
Class^ 
P.()()k. 



i'wi:si;nti-:i) hy 



Pendleton Farmers' 




ATLANTA. GA. 

FOOTE & DA VIES CO. 

1908 



525- 



INDEX. 

1. Introduction and Dedication. 

2. Pendleton Farmers' Society Property. 

3. Poll of Members from 1820 to 1861. 

4. Constitution as amended February, 1908. 

5. Declaration and Petition for Charter. 

6. Major George Seaburn and D. A. Smith. 

7. Governor Perry's Address. 

8. Old Pendleton and Farmers' Society by J. C. S. 

9. Eeminiscences, by Maj. Benjamin Sloan. 

10. Social Visiting Club, by H. E. Eavenel. 

11. Thos. G. Clemson and the beginning of Clemson College. 

12. Circular Letter, by Hon. W. H. Trescott. 

13. Address by Dr. Tait Butler, February 13, 1908. 

14. The Champion Corn Crops and Eice Crop. 

15. Goober Jack, The Eunaway Slave. 

16. The Black Ghost of the Eoeky Branch. 

17. News Notes during, the early days of the Society. 

18. Old History of Society 1815-1820. 

>^- 






THE PENDLETON FAEMEES' SOCIETY. 

To present the history of this old society from its founding 
in 1815 and relate all that is of interest and value is an under- 
taking far beyond the ability of those to whom, this important 
task is delegated. The motives^ the ambitions and the incentives 
of its founders, could we but know them, would make classic 
agricultural literature. The theme is one worthy of a real 
historian and we regret that the task was not bestowed upon 
some one more worthy. The compilers of this history have 
been burdened with other duties and keenly feel the imperfec- 
tions of their work, knowing that years of work would be re- 
quired to adequately present the record of the society's members 
and the efforts and effects of the venerable Farmers' Society 
of Pendleton, S. C. 

As an organization the society has always been that of an 
adult school for farmers — a vanguard in the march to the pro- 
gressive in agriculture — a pioneer ever opening new and true 
methods in the first and greatest vocation of man. It has not 
taught the robl)ing of soil fertility and the exhaustion of na- 
ture given fertility for present gain and at the expense of fu- 
ture usefulness, but its efforts have been to teach the secrets 
of continued profitable tillage and not at the expense of the 
soil's future usefulness. The society has consistently stood for 
the conservation of the natural resources of the soil. In its 
early history the means of preventing surface washing, or dry 
land drainage, as it was then called, was a frequent topic for 
discussion. One of the members of the society once stated 
that the two great problems ever confronting him were, how to 
make good and useful citizens of his children and how to keep 
his soil from washing away. Upon the membership rolls of the 
society we find names prominent in peace and war, science and 
art. Many members of the society, and their descendants, are 
prominent among the distinguished in many States and many 
names are found upon the register of the Nation's great. 
These names are found among the leaders of men as statesmen, 
ministers, teachers, scientists, generals of industry, of army, of 
navy and wielders of the pen shaping the destiny of a nation. 



4 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

•The earlier history of the society (1815-1820) is republished. 
The earlier events have also been well set forth in the last public 
address of Governor Perry, reminiscences by Maj. Benj. Sloan, 
James Seaborn and others. 

We wish to thank the following gentlemen for rendering val- 
uable assistance in the collection of data for this history: Col. 
Joseph N". Brown, Col. Eobert Thompson, Eev. J. E. Earle, 
Dr. J. H. Maxwell, H. E. Eavenel, Chas. S. Eeid, E. B. Benson, 
Ed Trescott and others whose names appear in the work. 

C. L. Newmann, 
J. C. Stribling, 
Committee on History, 




John C. Calhotx. 



DEDICATION. 

To the memory of South Carolina's greatest statesman, John 
Caldwell Calhoun, — a progressive farmer, eminent lawyer, and 
patriotic citizen. Bom in Abbe\dlle County, South Carolina, 
March 18, 1772, died in Washington, District of Columbia, 
March 31, 1850. Called by his people to occupy the highest 
political stations within their gift, from the State legislature, 
Congressional representative. United States Senator, — to the 
office of Secretary of War and the Vice-Presidency of the re- 
public, — he remained a leading and conspicuous figure in the 
annals of his country, to the close of his eventful and useful 
life. Leader of the war party against England in 1812, author 
of the tariff measure in 1816, burdened with tremendous re- 
sponsibilities in other lines of his political life, — he never dis- 
appointed the hopes, nor betrayed the confidence of his people. 
Faithful in every crisis, he has left us a legacy of unique pa- 
triotic virtue, of inspiring memories and imperishable hopes. 
To his memory, which South Carolina, with tens of thousands, 
of patriots beyond her limits will ever cherish, this volume is 
respectfully dedicated. 



FOREWORD. 

Eeminiscence anent the wisdom and prophetic vision of John 
C. Calhoun. Sitting in the north porch of his colonial man- 
sion about the year 1845, while engaged in conversation with 
Dr. Thomas Lewis and other friends : that if he stood in their 
places and desired to begin life with the growth of a populous 
city he would settle in Martha (now Atlanta), Georgia for the 
following reasons — that he believed that in the near future be- 
tween here and the Blue Ridge Mountains a great railroad would 
be built from Washington to New Orleans, and that other sys- 
tems of railways would climb over this chain of mountains 
through the gaps near Martha — now Atlanta, Georgia, going out 
from the rich valleys of the Ohio and westward in search of 
the Atlantic Coast. This conversation was related to the writer 
by the late Dr. Cherry of Seneca who was present when Mr. 
Calhoun made this prophetic remark which has since been writ- 
ten out in the unmistakable alphabet of accomplished facts. 

J. C. S. 



CHAPTEE II. 



PENDLETON FARMERS' SOCIETY PROPERTY. 

The following abstract from the Statutes of the State — kindly 
furnished the Society by Col. Joseph N. Brown of Anderson — 
established the fact that the Society owned one-half acre lot 
prior to 1830: 

Anderson, S. C, April 2, 1907. 
Mr. J. C. Stribling, Pendleton, S. C. 

Dear Sir: I have been making diligent search of our Sta- 
tutes, and can not find any disposition by the State, of the Pen- 
dleton Court House and jail. So far as the Statutes are con- 
cerned at least so far as printed, this property still belongs to 
the State. But no doubt the Pendleton Farmers' Society has 
acquired title in some way. 

1. Deed on record is from Joseph V. Shanklin of one-half 

acre lot known as Farmers' Hall, on Street giving 

no boundaries in consideration of one hundred dollars paid by 
Col. Thos. Pinckney, Jr., March 23, 1820. Recorded in Book 
P. Page 116 R. M. C. Anderson Dist. Witnesses Joseph P. 
Lewis and Sam'l. G. Earle. 

2. Deed from Pendleton Farmers' Society of same lot to F. 
W. Symes, signed by Robt. Anderson. Dated June 9, 1832, 
consideration one hundred and eight dollars. Recorded in Book 
5. Page 311 R. M. C. 

Previous to the War between the States, it was not usual to 
pay for recording deeds until taken out of the Clerk's Office and 
this will account for Mr. Benson's paying it so long after it was 
made. Very truly yours, 

(Signed) Joseph N. Brown. 




Picture of Pexuletox Fakmeks' Hall. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 11 

The following notice published in the Pendleton Messenger, 
December 33, 1818, is evidence that the Society owned this one- 
half acre lot during the year 1813 and they were then preparing 
to build a "Lodge" for their use by popular subscription of 
material. 



NOTICE. 

"The members of the Pendleton Farmers' Society, who have 
subscribed for the building of their "Lodge," are required to 
have the materials subscribed, at the Society's lot on the first 
of January next; or as soon as possible. These persons who 
have subscribed particular articles, will please apply to Major 
E. Sharp to know the quantity to be furnished." December 21, 
1818. 



PENDLETON DISTEICT DIVIDED. 

Act 20, Dec. 1826. 

statutes at laege, vol. page 289-290. 

"Col. J. C. Kilpatrick, Major Lewis and Thos. Garvin, com- 
missioners, with two surveyors to mark the line. James Har- 
rison, E. B. Norris, M. Gambrell, J. C. Griffin, Wm. Stewart to 
select plans for court-house. Anderson District— Andrew Ham- 
ilton, R. H. Briggs, J. C. Kilpatrick, Wm. Bearut and Jabes 
Jones for Pickens Dist. Col. Jacob Ben. Ion, President Senate, 
J. B. O'Neall, speaker of House of Representatives — That the 
court-house for Pendleton now contracted to be built be aban- 
doned and after satisfying such damages as the contractor may 
suffer from the loss of his contract which shall be determined by 
commissioners appointed to run the line aforesaid, the balance 
of the money appropriated be equally divided between the com- 
missioners aforesaid, one-half to be at the disposal of the com- 
missioners for building their respective court-houses." 

DATE WHEN PRESENT BRICK BUILDING WAS 

COMMENCED. 
The Act of the Legislature in 1826 dividing Pendleton Dis- 
trict into Anderson and Pickens Districts and also suspending 
work on the new court-house shows that work on this building 



12 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

was then in progress and it is said by some of the older citizens 
that this wall was built up about to the window sills by Pendle- 
ton District, and that the balance of the wall was built by the 
Pendleton Farmers' Society before October 9, 1829 at which 
date the treasurer's book shows that hall was rented to W. Clay- 
ton & Co. for exhibition purposes and that $10 rent was re- 
ceived for the same. October 13, 1834 Dr. Gibbs paid $104 
for four years' rent of room rented March, 1829. 

That the Society was owner of the brick hall October 10, 
1828 — an item of entry on treasurer's book of that date for 
$6.00 being paid to "John Adams for work done on Farmers' 
Old Hall,'' — is evidence that the Society then owned a new 
hall at that date. 

In the year 1843, it is stated by John Hall— the son of Calvin 
Hall the mason— and others, that Calvin Hall built the four 
tall, brick columns at ends of the brick Farmers' Hall and ex- 
tended the roof over them as it now stands, and made other 
changes inside of hall. 

That Thos. M. Sloan had the hall built, note item on Treas- 
urer's book dated September 30, 1844 where "$266.81 cash paid 
T. M. Sloan balance of $400 due for building hall." 

Treasurer's book show that bonds were paid at intervals to T. 
M. Sloan and B. F. Sloan from 1845 up to 1853 to the amount 
of $515.77 "for building house" which no doubt was a debt for 
building the present hall which is verified by a notice by George 
Seaburn, editor, in the Farmer & Planter for December, 1853, 
viz. 



The Pendleton Farmers Society. 

"We are pleased to announce to the members of this oldest 
Society in the State which has for a few years past been in a 
state of torpidity than otherwise that there is evident signs of 
a waking up and recovery from its lethargy." "It is now out 
of debt in which it has been involved in consequence of build- 
ing a hall (the best probably in the State) for its use and in 
future we trust to be able to offer more liberal premiums than 
have been given." 

The foregoing statements from our records set aside the legend 



Pendle-ion Farmers' Society. 13 

that the present Farmers' Hall was built and used as a court- 
house by Pendleton District and that John C. Calhoun made 
speeches in court in this building. But that John C. Calhoun 
no doubt did make many speeches in this hall before the Farm- 
ers' Society and perhaps on other occasions too, we here sub- 
mit the following notice copied from the Pendleton Messenger, 
October 11, 1839. 

"At the anniversary meeting of the Pendleton Farmers' So- 
ciety, being the first Thursday in October, the following gentle- 
men were elected officers to the Society for the ensuing year:" 

Hon. John C. Calhoun, President. 

Dr. James Stuart, Vice-President. 

J. V. Shanklin, Second Vice-President. 

Dr. F. W. Symmes, Corresponding Secretary and Librarian. 

E. B. Benson, Eee. Secretary and Treasurer. 

Treasurer's book shows that John C. Calhoun, notwithstanding 
the fact that he was an honorary member — paid his annual dues 
the same as other members every year until 1830, when he paid 
$18.00 for nine years. 



14 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

OLD SUN DIAL. 

In conversation with ]\Ir. Harleston, who makes the within 
affidavit he told me that when Col. Huger was leaving his Long 
House place near Pendleton, he was present and heard a dis- 
cussion between his Father, Col. Edward Harleston and Col. 
Hnger as to what disposition should be made of the Sun Dial 
that stood in his garden and that the conclusion was to present 
it to Pendleton Farmers Society, which to his o^vn knowledge 
was done. 

Mr. B. Frank Sloan formerly of Pendleton told me that he 
distinctly remembered seeing Maj. Geo. Seaborn (who was a 
surveyor) with his compass placing the Sun Dial in the Public 
Square at Pendleton. 

James Seaborn. 

Walhalla, S. C, May 31, 1907. 
State of South Carolina, 
County of Charleston. 

Personally appeared before me Mr. Jno. Harleston of Char- 
leston, State and County above named and made oath to the 
following effect: 

I am a grandson of Col. Frank K. Huger and have a distinct 
recollection of my Grandfather, the said Col. Frank K. Huger, 
making a gift of the Sun Dial that stands in the Public Square 
at Pendleton, S. C, to the Old Pendleton Farmers' Society. 
My recollection of the circumstance is very clear and I further 
believe that Maj. George Seaborn, then President of the said 
Society received the Sun Dial for the use and benefit of the 
Society. 

Sworn to and subscribed liefore me this the 10th day of May, 
1907. 

(Sig.) James Seaborn, (Sig.) Jno. Harleston. 

Notary Public, S. C. 



PENDLETON FAEMEES' SOCIETY. 

Anderson Mail, February 10, 1908. 

On February 13, the Pendleton Farmers' Society will have 
a meeting of more than usual interest. The executive commit- 
tee at a recent meeting perfected arrangements for an open ses- 
sion on the above date and all are invited to be present, and es- 
pecially the ladies. An interesting program is arranged. 
Among the speakers will be Mr. Tait Butler, veterinarian and 
director of Farmers' Institute for North Carolina, and Dr. S. 
A. Knapp, chief officer in charge of the Demonstrated Farm 
work carried on by the National Department of Agriculture. 
Both of these distinguished gentlemen are entertaining and 
gifted orators and a rare treat is in store for those who attend 
this meeting. 

The Pendleton Farmers' Society holds an important position 
in the history of the State and in the history of the United 
States. It is one of the oldest organizations of its kind in Amer- 
ica and is in fact as well as in name a farmers' society. Its 
organization dates back to 1815. On its membership rolls, pre- 
served in the old hall owned by the Society, are to be found 
the names of John C. Calhoun, and Thomas G. Clemson, both 
of whom took an active interest and participated in the work of 
the Society. In a paper read by Mr. Clemson in 1867 the advan- 
tages of the establishment of the College such as Clemson Col- 
lege were strongly set forth and from this germ of thought was 
developed the Clemson idea that finally culminated after Mr. 
Clemson's death and through the execution of his will, in the 
location and establishment of the College that bears his name, 
and has more students taking the full agricultural course than 
any institution in America, if not in the world. One of the 



16 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

oldest nierabers of the Society was not far wrong when he re- 
marked that "the Pendleton Farmers' Society is the mother of 
Clemson Agricultural College." 

This Society owns its handsome colonial hall in the center 
of Pendleton. This building was erected in the early part of 
the last century. The membership of this Society through its 
ninety-three years of existence has been large, and descendants 
from the members are scattered from South Carolina to the 
Pacific Coast. 

A little less than a year ago, it was decided that the history 
of the Society should be written and this important undertaking 
was assigned to Col. J. C. Stribling who has collected a large 
amount of material in addition to that embraced in the minutes 
and record of the Society. This history is to be published by 
the Society and Col. Stribling will be thankful for any historical 
notes bearing in any way upon the past of the Society or any of 
its members. Col. Stribling may be communicated with at Pen- 
dleton, S. C. 

The executive committee of the Society is anxious to secure 
pictures for hanging in their hall and requests friends of the So- 
ciety to make such contributions. Particularly is it desirous 
that pictures of old members be secured for the hall as well as 
rural pictures of either interest or value. Acknowledgments of 
such donation will be made and they will be carefully preserved 
in the history hall. 

C. L. Newman. 



CHAPTEE III. 



PENDLETON FAEMERS' SOCIETY. 



List of the Members from 1820 to 1861- 
Ancestors OxV It? 

Thos. Dickson, 



-Are Your 



Eobt. Anderson, 
Dr. Wm. Anderson, 
G. T. Anderson, 
Eev. J. B. Adger, 
Capt. J. E. Adger, 
E. B. Benson, 
John P. Benson, 
J. G. Baker, 
Arm stead, Burt, 
B. Batchelor, 
0. E. Broyles, 
G. T. Barnette, 
Aaron Boggs, 
J. N. Boggs, 
John C. Calhoun, 
John E. Calhoun, 
Wm. Clark, 
Samuel Cherry, 
William Carter, 
A. P. Calhoun, 
John E. Cherry, 
Colin Campbell, 
Archibald Campbell, 
T. Herbert Cown, 
E. D. Cherry, 
J. W. Crawford, 
Eansom Calhoun, 
W. E. Calhoun, 
Eev. A. H. Cornish, 
H. E. Campbell, 
E. M. Cobb, 
J. W. Cobb, 
James Dickson, 



Dr. E. E. Elliott, 
Geo. E. F. Foster, 
John B. Ferrell, 
John S. Foster, 
Alfred Fuller, 
Col. Jos. Grisham, 
James C. Griffin, 
J. D. Genlord, 
Col. Israel Gillerson, 
Dr. A. S. Gibbes, 
W. H. D. Gaillard, 
Charley Gaillard. 
Gen. F. N. Garvin, 
G. G. Oilman, 
Edw. Harleston, 
Col. John Hunter, 
Col. Francis K. Huger, 
David K. Hamilton, 
Wm. Hubbard, 
John G. Hunter, 
Thomas Harrison, 
Bentley Hasel, 
Alfred Huger, 
Joseph Hillhouse, 
John Humes, 
Ezekiel Harris, 
James Hamilton, 
Paul Hamilton, 
John Hastie, 
J. W. Harrison, 
Col. W. A. Hayne, 
John Holmes, 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 



19 



Wm. L. Jenkins, 
W. E. Jones, 
John C. Kilpatrick, 
Eobt. Lewis, 
Jesse P. Lewis, 
W. C. Livingston, 
J. 0. Lewis, 
A. F. LeMas, 
T. L. Lewis, 
J. T. Latta, 
John Maxwell, 
Jas. L. McCann, 
Isaac Murphree, 
E. A. Maxwell, 
S. E, Maxwell, 
C. B. Moses, 
John C. Miller, 
M. S. McCrary, 
H. C. Miller, 
Jesse Martin, 
M. P. ]\Iaxwell, 
Warren Martin, 
Martin McKay, 
J. C. Miller, 
S. E. Mayes, 
John McPhail, 
Jephtha Norton. 
John L. North, 
Jesse W. Norris, 
John S. ISTewton, 
Thos. Pinckney, 
C. C. Pinckney, 
Thos. J. Pickens, 
William Poe, 
A, C. Pickens, 
Eichard S. Porcher, 
John Eobinson, 
Willis Eobinson, 
A. W. Eoss, 
Carver Eandal. 



H. E. Eavenel, 
John Ealeter, 
Thomas Eeid, 
James Stewart, 
David Sloan, 
John M. Sloan, 
Benjamin Sloan, 
Benjamin Smith, 
Wm. C. Smith, 
J. V. Shanklin, 
F. W. Symmes, 
Wm. Sloan, 
Elam Sharp, 
Thos. M. Sloan, 
B. F. Sloan, 
Wm. Steele, 
Eobt. Simpson, 
George Seaborn, 
Archibald Seabrook, 
John T. Sloan, 
E. F. Simpson, 
J. E. Shelor, 
J. D. Smith, 
William Simpson, 
Edward Symmes, 
J. L. Simpson, 
David S. Taylor, 

D. E. Towers, 

E. A. Tate, 
John Verner, 
Samuel Verner, 
Wm. VanWyck, 
Joseph Whitner, 
Samuel Warren, 
Jacob Warley, 
J. T. Whitfield, 
Thos. Warley, 
J. D. Wright, 
Greenberrv Whitten, 
S. n. Wilson, 

J. S. Lawton. 



20 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 



NEW LIFE IN THE OLD FAEMERS' SOCIETY. 

At a meeting held in Farmers Hall, Pendleton, S. C. on Feb- 
ruary 14, 1906, the members names mentioned below were all 
the sul^iving members on the roll who at this date began work 
to build up a larger membership by publishing the following 
notice : 

The regular quarterly meeting of the Old Pendleton Farmers' 
Society will be held in their hall at Pendleton, S. C, Thursday, 
14th of February, next, at 10 a. m. As most all of its members 
are now old men it is important that every old member of this 
Society put forth a special effort to get up a lot of young farmers 
to join the Society at this meeting, so as to perpetuate the life 
and history of the Society. List of members : J. C. Stribling, 
vice-president; S. L. Eskew, secretary; executive committee, J. 
C. Stribling, B. Harris, H. S. Trescott, J. W. Simpson, M. M. 
Hunter, E. G. Evins, Jr., 0. A. Bowen, J. E. Lewis, J. J. Sitton, 
R. E, Sloan, P. W. Simpson, Jas. T. Hunter, J. N. Hunter, J. 
M. Pickens, Dr. P. H. E. Sloan, C. Hankie, Dr. W. W. Watkins, 
Samuel McCrary, E. Hopkins, J. J. Lewis, Warren J. Martin, 
Dr. J. H. Maxwell, B. Frank Sloan, C. W. Young, J. A. Price, 
S. C. George, H. E. Ravenel, Daniel Eavenel, F. J. Pelzer, A. T. 
Smyth, Dr. T. J. Pickens, B. F. Crayton, Julius Shanklin, Col. 
M. P. Tribble, B. C. Crawford are all the living members to date. 

Members of Pendleton Farmers' Society in 1908, when this 
history was written: President, J. C. Stribling, Pendleton, S. 
C. ; Vice-President, B. Harris, Pendleton, S C; Secretary and 
Treasurer, J. B. Harris, Pendleton, S. C. ; Corresponding Sec- 
retarj'. Prof. C. L. Newman, Clemson College; Librarian, B. H. 
Sadler, Pendleton, S. C; Chaplain, Rev. K. G. Findley, Clemson 
College. 

Executive Committee: B. Harris, H. C. Summers, J. N. 
Harper, John L. Long, A. N. Richardson. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 31 



MEMBERS m 1908. 

Dr. P. H. E. Sloan Pendleton, S. C. 

E. G. Evans Pendleton, S. C. 

S. M. MeCrary Pendleton, S. C. 

J. M. Pickens Pendleton, S. C. 

J. W. Simpson Pendleton, S. C. 

J. T. Hunter Pendleton, S. C. 

M. M. Hunter Pendleton, S. C. 

M, B. Kichardson Pendleton, S. C. 

H. S. Trescott Pendleton, S. C. 

A. T. Smythe Pendleton, S. C. 

S. L. Eskew Pendleton, S. C. 

J. N. Hunter Pendleton, S. C. 

J. M. Sitton Pendleton, S. C. 

P. B. Martin Pendleton, S. C. 

A. H. Mitchell Pendleton, S. C. 

T. W. Stevens Pendleton, S. C. 

H. P. Sitton Pendleton, S. C. 

H. C. Summers, Jr Pendleton, S. C. 

T. R. McCrary Pendleton, S. C. 

J. A. Bamett Pendleton, S. C. 

B. F. McMurtry Pendleton, S. C. 

J. D. Smith . ." Pendleton, S. C. 

W. G. Wilson L Pendleton, S. C. 

W. L. Ward Pendleton, S. C. 

J. W. Palmer Pendleton, S. C. 

J. W. Suttles Pendleton, S. C. 

Dr. R. B. Day Pendleton, S. C. 

Dr. W. K. Sharp Pendleton, S. C. 

Thos. P. Hobson Pendleton, S. C. 

W. W. Smith Pendleton, S. C. 

Dr. A. A. Cox Pendleton, S. C. 

W. E. Hall Pendleton, S. C. 

W. B. Aull Pendleton, S. C. 

Ben Aull Pendleton, S. C. 

J. A. Shanklin Pendleton, S. C. 

M. M. Hunter Pendleton, S. C. 



22 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

Dr. L. A. Klein Clemson College, S. C. 

B. H. Provast Clemson College, S. C. 

F. H. Clinkscales Clemson College, S. C. 

B. C. Hard Clemson College, S. C. 

A. Schilletter Clemson College, S. C. 

Dr. A. N. Eedfern Clemson College, S. C. 

J. P. Lewis ." Clemson College, S. C. 

W. D. Garrison, Jr Clemson College, S. C. 

W. A. Boggs Clemson College, S. C. 

K. E. Eavenel Spartanburg, S. C. 

J. D. McElroy Sandy Springs, S. C. 

J. E. Vandiver Anderson, S. C. 

Joseph Fretmell Anderson, S. C. 

Col. J. N". Brown Anderson, S. C. 

J. D. Maxwell Anderson, S. C. 

J. W. Quottlebaum Anderson, S. C. 

J. H. Godfrey Anderson, S. C. 

T. T. Wakefield Anderson, S. C. 

J. C. Watkins Anderson, S. C. 

E. W. Shelor Anderson, S. C. 

Jas. W. Shelor Walhalla, S. C. 

J. W. Holleman Walhalla, S. C. 

John A. Whitner Atlanta, Ga. 

Chas. F. Whitner Atlanta, Ga. 

Thos. C. Whitner Atlanta, Ga. 

Earl Sloan Charleston, S. C. 

Dr. Hex M. Perry Greenville, S. C. 

M. W. E. Seabrook Savannah, Ga. 

E. H. Shanklin Easley, S. C. 

Chas. T. Martin Easley, S. C. 

A. J. Smith Septus, S. C. 

COMPLIMENTAEY MEMBERS. 

A. M. Carpenter Daily Mail 

Cheshire Intelligencer 

J. F. Cluckscales Intelligencer 

Eev. W. H. Mills Pendleton, S. C. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 23 

Honorary Members. 

Col. E. A. Thompson Walhalla, S. C. 

Maj. Benj. Sloan University, S. C. 

Dr. J. H. Maxwell 

Aaron Boggs 

Melvor Williamson 

Z. G. Deake 



CHAPTEE IV. 



c^ONSTITUTION^, AS AMEN^DED AND APPEOVED FEB- 
RUAEY, 1907. 

Article 1. The Society shall be known and styled The Pen- 
dleton Farmers' Society. 

Art. 2. The object of the Society shall be the promotion and 
improvement of agricultural stock and mechanics. 

Art. 3. A President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treas- 
urer, Corresponding Secretary and Librarian, shall be elected 
annually by a majority of the members present at the anniver- 
sary of the Society, on the second Thursday in November, 
in each year, the persons elected to continue in office for one 
year or until a new election takes place. In case of vacancy, by 
death, resignation or otherwise, the same may be supplied by 
a new election, made at any stated meeting of the Society, the 
person elected to serve the remainder of the year. 

Art. 4. At all the meetings of the Society, the President 
shall exercise all the duties of that office, all motions shall be 
addressed to him, and on all ciuestions he shall cancel and de- 
clare the votes. He shall have power to call public meetings 
by giving public notice of six days. In his absence the Vice- 
President shall exercise the same power. A quorum for the 
transaction of business shall consist of seven members. 

Art. 5. The Secretary and Treasurer shall keep the books 
and papers of the Society, and the assets regularly stated at 
the meeting previous to the anniversary. He shall produce his 
assets fairly stated, books and papers, and deliver them to his 
successor on the anniversary or to the order of the Societv. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. ' 27 

Art. 6. The Corresponding Secretary and Librarian shall 
have in charge all letters addressed to the Society and answer the 
same with the counsel of the executive committee, which letters 
and answers he shall keep regularly filed. He shall also take 
charge of the Society library and keep the same filed safely in 
the Farmers' Hall. He may loan out books to the members, 
keeping a list of the books and persons loaned to. No books to 
be kept out longer than from one stated meeting to the next. 

Art. 7. The stated meetings of the Society shall be on the 
second Thursday in February, May, August and November. 

Art. 8. The members of the Society shall be distinguished 
into regular, honorary, and contributing members. Eegular 
members shall consist of persons residing within the State. All 
members of agricultural societies in other States and countries 
with whom this Society shall correspond, and all persons of 
this State and other countries and States who shall be elected 
for the purpose shall be honorary members, and are merely in- 
vited to assist in the meetings whenever they may come within 
the country. Strangers desiring to be auditors may be intro- 
duced by a regular member. Honorary contributing members 
are of the description hereafter mentioned. Every citizen con- 
tributing and paying into the hands of the Treasurer a sum 
not less than ten dollars may be elected agreeably to the rules, 
an honorary member, without regard to place of residence. Those 
who thus laudably enable this Society to extend its usefulness 
and promote its objects are invited to assist in its meetings. 

Art. 9. New members whether honorary or resident may be 
elected at any stated meeting, being proposed by a member. 

Art. 10. For the purpose of defraying the necessary ex- 
penses of the Society for and prizes, books on 

agriculture, improved instruments, on farming and other import- 
ant objects, every member shall pay annually into the hands of 
the Treasurer on the anniversary the sum of one dollar. At 
the close of which said meeting- the Treasurer-elect shall 



28 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

before the Society a list of the members specifying who has and 
who has not paid their contributions. No part of the Society 
funds shall be disposed of except by the executive committee, at 
a stated meeting. 

Art. 11. New rules and alterations may be passed at any 
stated meeting of the Society by a vote of two-thirds of the 
members present. 

Art. 13. That an executive committee of five (5) members 
of the Society be appointed by the President on the day of elec- 
tion of officers. 



KULES AND BY-LAWS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF 
THE PENDLETON FARMERS' SOCIETY. 

Rule 1. At all meetings of the Society the President shall 
take the chair and call the meeting to order at 10 o'clock a. m. 

Rule 2. Any member wishing to move a resolution shall 
reduce it to writing and address the chair standing. No reso- 
lution is to be open to discussion until it has been seconded, but 

the mover may state any observations touching the 

merits of his resolution before it is seconded. 

Rule 3. No member shall be allowed to speak more than 
twice on any one subject without permission from the Society. 

Rule 4. In all cases every member shall arise and address 
the chair uncovered. The member first up shall have the pre- 
cedence. The President shall confine the attention of the So- 
ciety to the member speaking, and not suffer him to be im- 
properly interrupted. 

Rule 5. In cases of more than ordinary interest the Society 
may go into committees of the whole on the requisition of any 
five members, when the President shall nominate a chairman, 
who shall preserve the same order and decorum, and cause the 
same rules of debate to be observed with the exception of the 
third rule. 

Rule 6. The previous question may be moved and seconded 
at any stage of the debate in committees of the whole, and shall 
be in the following words : "Shall the main question be now 
put?" Should the committee decide in the affirmative the main 
question shall be put without debate. 

Rule 7. Whenever a resolution has been disposed of by a 
vote of the Society, it shall not be in order to move that or a 
similar resolution without a vote of the Society to reconsider. 

Rule 8. Every member of the Society who shall violate any 
of these rules and who shall not conduct himself with decorum 

and both of language and manner shall be called to 

order by the President and if necessary be directed to take his 
seat. 



•^n Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

Rule 9. In cases of gross , violent and ungentle- 
manly conduct the Society may expell a member, the resolution 
for this must be signed by two members who should name it 
silently to the President who is bound not to disclose their 
names, and who is to request the member to withdraw, after the 
debate the member shall be introduced and informed of the sub- 
stance of the charges and is required to make his defense after 
he returns, either at the moment or at the next meeting, when 
a vote is taken, and it shall be by ballot, and shall require two 
thirds of the meeting and which shall consist of at least three- 
fourths of the regular members, to expell a member. 

Rule 10. All applications for admission to the Society, and 
all resignations must be made in writing. 

Rule 11. All members who have paid their dues, and desire 
to be still members are requested to sign the by-laws. 



CHAPTER V. 



DECLAEATION AND PETITION FOE INCOEPOEATION. 

The original charter of this Society was granted in 1817. 
The undersigned declarants and petitioners, 

NAME. ADDRESS. 

J. C. Stribling Pendleton, S. C. 

B. Harris Pendleton, S. C. 

C. L. Newman Clemson College, S. C. 

J. B. Harris Pendleton, S. C. 

H. C. Summers, Jr Pendleton, S. C. 

J. N. Harper Clemson College, S. C. 

being two or more of the officers or agents appointed to super- 
vise or manage the affairs of the Pendleton Farmers' Society, 
a corporation which has been duly and regularly organized for 
the purpose hereinafter to be set forth, do affirm and declare: 

That at a meeting of the aforesaid organization, held pursuant 
to the by-laws or regulations of the said organization, they 
were authorized and directed to apply for incorporation. 

That the said organization holds, or desires to hold, property 
in common for the Eeligious, Educational, Social, Fraternal, 
Charitable or other eleemosynary purpose, or any two or more 
of said purposes, and is not organized for the purpose of profit 
or gain to the members, otherwise than is above stated, or for 
the insurance of life, health, accident or property. 

The said declarants and petitioners further declare and affirm : 

1. Their names and residences are as above given. 

2. The name of the proposed corporation is The Pendleton 
Farmers' Society. 

3. The place at which it proposes to have its headquarters or 
to be located is Pendleton, Anderson County, South Carolina. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 33 

4. The purpose of the said proposed corporation is to further 
interest in agricultural pursidts. 

5. The names and residences of all managers, trustees^ direc- 
tors or other officers, is as follows : 

President, J. C. Stribling, Pendleton, S. C; Vice-President, 
B. Harris, Pendleton, S. C; Corresponding Secretary, C. L. 
Newman, Clemson College, S. C. ; Secretary and Treasurer^ J. 
B. Harris, Pendleton, S. C. ; Executive Committee, H. C. Sum- 
mers, Jr., Pendleton, S. C. ; J. N". Harper, Clemson College, 
S. C. 

6. That they desire to be incorporated in perpetuity. Where- 
fore your petitioners pray that the Secretary of State do issue 
to the aforesaid The Pendleton Farmers' Society Certificate of 
Incorporation, with all the rights, powers, privileges and immu- 
nities, and subject to all the limitations and liabilities conferred 
by an Act of the General Assembly of South Carolina entitled : 
"An act to provide for the incorporation of Eeligious, Educa- 
tional, Social, Fraternal or Charitable Churches, Lodges, Socie- 
ties, Associations, or Companies, and for amending the charters 
of those already formed and to be formed," approved February 
19, A. D. 1900, and other provisions of law. 

Given under our hands and seals, this 21st dav of May, A. D. 
1908. 

J. C. Stribling, 

B. Haeris, 

C. L. Newman, 
J. B. Harris, 

H. C. Summers, Jr. 
J. N. Harper. 



CHAPTER VI. 



MAJOR GEOEGE SEABORN. 

Major George Seaborn, once president of the Pendleton Farm- 
ers' Society was born in Greenville District, South Carolina on 
August 1, 1797, on Golden Grove Creek. He moved to Pendle- 
ton in 1840 and was president of the Society afterwards, and 
took a great interest in all things pertaining to Agriculture. 

He wrote a great deal on the subject and was long a corre- 
spondent of the Southern -Cultivator and the American Farmer 
of Baltimore, Md., and other Farm Journals. 

In 1850, he in connection with Mr. J. J. Gilman of New 
Hampshire established the Farmer and Planter a paper devoted 
to the farming interest at Pendleton under the firm name of 
"Seaborn & Gilman." Mr. Gilman soon retired and Major 
Seaborn continued the publication until 1859. 

Major Seaborn married Sarah, a daughter of General John 
Baylis Earle. He died at his home near Pendleton, on March 
1877. 

I Slave a very distinct recollection of the old court-house as 
it stood in 1840 and 1841 and afterwards. Whether it was 
completely finished I can not certainly say, but it looked all 
right to me. It had on a roof and within were raised seats like 
all the old court-houses had in that day, the back seats being 
raised 7 or 8 feet higher than the front ones. I remember that 
particularly and think I can now see the judge's bench and the 
bar as it was then. I was in the building once at some sort of a 
public meeting, I don't know now what, and remember when 
the "ayes" and "nays" were called for on some question or res- 
olution, Thos. J. Sloan, a twelve or fourteen-year old boy, an- 
swered "aye" with the others, and we boys thought he had com- 
mitted the unpardonable sin and expected to see him summarily 
executed. This was after we had moved to Pendleton and I was 
a schoolboy. 

I don't know when the building was commenced. It might 
have been in 1826, but my supposition has always been that 
the old Pendleton District was not divided into Anderson and 
Pickens until 1828. I don't know that court was ever held 
in that building, that was before my time, I was born in 1831. 



38 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

I don't know how the building came into the possession of 
the Farmers' Society, but know that it was torn down and the 
Farmers' Hall was built of the material, which was probable 
as the court-house was larger than the Farmers' Hall. When 
the Hall was in process of building, a thunder storm came up 
one night and the lightining struck one of the scaffold poles on 
the east side next to where the Masonic Hall now is, and shat- 
tered it to splinters. 

When the school teacher, Mr. J. J. Oilman, sprained or broke 
his ankle once and could not walk except on crutches, he taught 
in the Farmers' Hall a good while lying on a cot. 

The two north rooms of the ground floor was used for some 
years as the printing office of the Farmer & Planter an agri- 
cultural journal published by Seaborn and Oilman, but this is 
of so recent a date that I suppose it is remembered by many 
persons now living there. The publication was commenced 
about 1850. 

Col. Edward Harleston once occupied the lower northwest 
room as a Law Office for a short time, and we all remember J. J. 
Dukes's Oinger Pop Shop in the southwest room and T. J. Wer- 
nen's tailor shop in southwest corner. 

The traveling shows used to exhibit in the large hall above, 
and a company of North Carolina Indians once held 'a Oreen 
Corn Dance there to which they charged an admission fee. 

I have been told that the first court-house at Pendleton was 
situated down on the branch where Shanklin's Tan Yard after- 
wards stood. In one of the record books in the Clerk's Office at 
Anderson is recorded the contract for building the first court- 
house. It was to be of logs and the size and length of the logs 
were specified. In the same record is the deed to the land where 
the village of Pendleton was built. 

I could make this account fuller perhaps, but it would be more 
a history of Old Pendleton than of the Farmers' Society, which 
I don't suppose you care for. 

Very truly, 

James Seaborn. 

If I had the time I would be pleased to contribute something to 
your history. You know I helped print the "Pendleton Messen- 
ger" in 1857 and 1858 when it was owned and edited by Seb 
Symmes, son of Dr. Symmes. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 39 

The paper was moved from Pendleton to Hartwell, Ga, and 
from the material was printed the "Hartwell Messenger." War- 
ren D. Wilkes, a distinguished man of Anderson, assisted in edit- 
ing the paper. While the paper was printed at Pendleton I was 
the "Printer's Devil" and as the "Carrier Boy" I distributed the 
"Messenger" to its 80 or 100 subscribers all over the town. 

I remember very pleasantly many of the distinguished citizens 
of Pendleton and community, among them was the wife of John 
C. Calhoun, who always had a pleasant word with me as I car- 
ried the paper to her home every week. She lived at the place 
now owned by Mr. Henry T. Sitton on the right of the public 
road leading to Autun, S. C. and Anderson, S. C. 

Pendleton was at that time a thriving, business town, with 
two hotels and many stores all around its square. The Blue 
Ridge Railroad had just been completed to that point and the 
cars were making daily trips between Anderson and Pendleton. 

I have always had a warm place in my heart for Pendleton and 
its intelligent and sterling citizens. No better people live any- 
where than those of Pendleton and surrounding community. 

Wishing you and your co-laborers great success in your under« 
taking, believe me your friend and fellow citizen. 

D. A. Smith. 



CHAPTER VII. 



GOV. PERKY'S ADDRESS TO PENDLETON SOCIETY. 

VALUABLE HISTORIC PAPER PRINTED THROUGH COURTESY OF COL. 
J. C. STRIBLING — ADDRESS WAS DELIVERED BEFORE 
THE PENDLETON FARMERS'" SOCIETY 
IN THE EARLY EIGH- 
TIES. 

Address delivered before the Pendleton Farmers' Society, Oc- 
tober, 1884. 

Gentlemen of the Pendleton Farmers' Society: 

I have been invited, as the oldest surviving member of your 
Association, to address you on the 69th Anniversary of your So- 
ciety. I duly appreciate the honor, but feel a difidence in at- 
tempting to discuss the great and all important question of ag- 
riculture, before intelligent, educated and practical farmers, such 
as you are. 

I was brought up on a farm, in Pendleton district, and accus- 
tomed to all the duties and labors of a farmer; but soon entered 
on professional duties which, for more than half a century, have 
withdrawn my attention from this, the noblest occupation of 
man. I have, however, never lost an interest in agriculture, and 
have read and studied much on the subject. I am now living on 
an extensive farm and in some measure supervise it, which is 
under the direction of my youngest son. I have noticed with 
great pleasure the progress of agriculture and the wonderful im- 
provements, in agricultural implements, since my youthful days 
as a farmer. 

The "Pendleton Farmers' Society" was organized in 1815 and 
is now one of the oldest agricultural societies in South Carolina. 
That its existence should have been continued so long is highly 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 43 

creditable to the agriculturists of this community. It speaks 
well for their intelligence, patriotism, science and love of im- 
provement. 

The war with Great Britain had just closed, before the organ- 
ization of your society, and the country was greatly depressed in 
all of her resources and industries. Agriculture and commerce 
were especially at a low ebb. The farmers around Pendleton 
village, in 1815, were educated and highly cultivated citizens, 
and many of them quite distinguished in the State. I may men- 
tion Governor Andrew Pickens, and his brother Ezekiel Pickens, 
sons of the patriot and Revolutionary General Pickens ; Col. Rob- 
ert Anderson, the son of another Revolutionary General, and for 
many years Clerk of the House of Representatives ; Col. Warren, 
a gallant soldier of the Revolution, who lost a leg in the war of 
Independence, and for many years a representative in the Legis- 
lature from Pendleton District; General J. B. Earle, a member 
of Congress, and for many years Adjutant General of the State; 
Samuel Earle, a member of Congress ; Mr. North, a highly culti- 
vated gentlemen and of great moral worth; Thomas Harrison, a 
distinguished lav/yer, and State Treasurer John E. Calhoun, the 
son of one of our first United States Senators, and an accom- 
plished gentlemen; Col. Richard Lewis, Joseph Whitner, Mr. 
Gaillard, the Taylors, Maxwells, Sloans, Bensons, Cherrys and 
many, very many others of fortune and cultivation. These pa- 
triotic gentlemen farmers determined to try and advance the 
cause of agriculture in their district, and hence the origin of the 
"Pendleton Farmers' Society." To the credit of your district 
this Association has continued to flourish, and has added to its 
members, John C. Calhoun, Vice-President of the United States, 
John Gaillard, President pro tern of the Senate of the United 
States, Judge Cheves, one of the purest and wisest men South 
Carolina ever produced, Governor James Hamilton, the Bayard 
of the South ; Col. Francis Huger, the liberator of Lafayette 
from the dungeon of Olmutz ; Col. Thomas Pinckney and Charles 
Cotesworth Pinckney; the Hon. Richard F. Simpson, for many 
years our representative in Congress, and many others of the 
most distinguished men of the State. 

Some thirty or forty years ago I was invited by my friend, Ma- 
jor George Seaborn, then President of this Society, to address 
its members at one of their anniversary meetings. When I look 



44 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

around me now, I see but two members (Mr. John Sitton and 
Mr. Gaillard) of the Pendleton Farmers' Society who were then 
present on that occasion. They have all gone to that bourne 
from whence no traveler ever returns — John C, Calhoun, Gover- 
nor Burt, Dr. Symmes, Major Seaborn, J. Overton Lewis, the 
Taylors, the Maxwells, the Bensons, the Sloans, and others, who 
were here then, are here no longer. 

And what great events, my friends, in the history of our coun- 
try have taken place since that period. A civil war has swept 
off hundreds and thousands of our most gallant and patriotic 
sons, fallen in battle with the lost Confederacy, the Southern 
States have been depleted by hostile armies, and our slaves eman- 
cipated. But worse than all this, those freed negroes were set 
over us, as our political masters, under the control of rogues and 
scoundrels from the Korth, Avho came liere to steal and plunder. 
Nothing in history is more infamous than this cruel outrage, on 
the part of the EepTiblican party of the Northern States. 

But in 1876, the Centennial of American Independence, the 
white, noble people of South Carolina, under the patriotic and 
gallant lead of General Wade Hampton rose up in mass, and pro- 
claimed that they would no longer submit to be governed by ig- 
norant negroes, plundering carpet-baggers and infamous scalla- 
wags. In the providence of God this movement was successful, 
and the leaders of that regime have fled from the just indigna- 
tion of an outraged people. E. K. Scott, the Radical Governor 
of South Carolina, fled with his stolen wealth to his old home in 
Ohio, where he murdered an innocent young man, who was try- 
ing to conceal the disgrace of his son. F. J. Moses, the successor 
of Scott, in the Executive chair of debased and degraded Eadi- 
cal South Carolina, fled to New York, where he has been convic- 
ted of crimes and sent to the penitentiary several times. 

Since this overthrow of negro carpet bag, scallaway rule, in 
South Carolina, we have made rapid strides in all the branches 
of industry. Agriculture has revived, and our crops are almost 
doubled. The white people have put their hands to the plow and 
are no longer above cultivating their farms by their own man- 
ual labor. They have been greatly aided, too, by the recent won- 
derful improvements in all agricultural implements. The Sulky 
plow; the reaper, the steam thresher and a variety of other labor- 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 45 

saving machinery, have almost made the farmer independent of 
his colored hireling. Mason's machine for picking out cotton, 
the most wonderful invention of the age, will make him more so. 

The phosphates, too, have come to the aid of the farmer and 
thrown a flood of fertility all over the State. By means of this 
manure, cotton is grown at the foot of the mountains. Before 
the discovery of phosphates, there was not a bag of cotton sold 
in the town of Grreenville, and since the use of this fertilizer, 
thirty thousand bales have been sold there in one year. Its ap- 
plication to corn and wheat, and all the cereals, is equally ad- 
vantageous. 

But there is danger in depending too much on this expensive 
fertilizer instead of stable and barnyard manures and compost 
heaps. When well applied these manures are as good as phos- 
phates and much more permanent. They are not so easily car- 
ried out and applied to the fields, and they are more troublesome 
to make and preserve. This is one reason why the phosphates 
are preferred. In the early history of agriculture in South Caro- 
lina, no one thought of manuring his land. This was too much 
trouble. The farmers thought it better to clear new land, wear 
it out and move olf to a fresh countr}^ This vicious custom has 
cost South Carolina millions of wealth and thousands of her cit- 
izens. How great would our State be to-day if she could reclaim 
all her emigrant citizens and the wealth they carried off. 

The spirit of emigration weakens also the patriotism of the 
emigrant, and he no longer loves as he ought to, the home of his 
birth or the home of his adoption. But since the overthrow of 
Radical rule in South Carolina,' this spirit of emigration has 
ceased, and everyone thinks of improving his lands, instead of 
wearing them out. In former times the ignorant farmer never 
thought of preserving his manures, and very often built his sta- 
bles and cow lots on the side of a hill, so that the rains and 
floods might keep them clean. I have heard farmers say that 
they never manured a foot of land in their lives. Now, there i& 
scarcely a farmer, no matter how ignorant he may be, who does 
not try to manure as much of his cultivated fields as possible. 

In the early history of South Carolina, the largest portions of 
the laufls were in woods, and cattle were permitted to range over 
it at pleasure. The Legislature passed kws requiring everyone 
to fence his fields, and declared how hiarh a lawful fence should 



46 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

be. But a few 3^ears since^ the legislation was most wisely 
changed, and an Act was passed, requiring everyone to fence his 
stock, and authorizing the farmer to cultivate his fields without 
any fence at all. I regard this "no fence law" as the wisest Act 
the Legislature has passed for many years past. The expense of 
fences in South Carolina was five times more than the whole live 
stock of the State was Avorth. The wisdom of this law, in requir- 
ing all cattle to be kept up is seen all over the country, in the 
improved breeds of cattle, hogs, sheep. It is seen, too, in the in- 
creased and improved quality of butter brought to market. In- 
stead of being engaged in the latter part of the winter and early 
in the spring, in making and repairing his fences, the farmer 
now has time to haul out his manures, and make a thorough prep- 
aration for his crop. 

The first consideration of every farmer should be to drain his 
low grounds thoroughly, and keep his uplands from washing by 
deep plowing, sowing them in small grain and clover occasionally, 
and hill-side ditching if necessary. Deep subsoiling will almost 
render the farmer independent of ordinary droughts. In order 
for the roots of plants to extract the fertility of the soil, it should 
be well pulverized, and no clods left unbroken. When the 
ground is well broken and pulverized and deeply subsoiled very 
shallow ploughing afterwards is best for the crop. It is a mis- 
take to suppose that breaking roots improves their growth. As 
well might we expect to increase the volume of water in a creek 
by cutting off the spring branches which feed it. 

It is a great mistake to plant so much cotton as we do, and de- 
pend on the great West for our corn, flour, bacon, lard, horses 
and cattle. It is doubtful whether there is any profit in gi'owing 
cotton under ten cents. When the planter sells his cotton and pur- 
chases his supplies he will ver^^ often find himself in debt. He 
should make corn, wheat and meat enough to do him, and raise 
his own horses, mules and cows. Then he may plant as much 
cotton as he can cultivate. But there are a greaf. many crops 
more profitable at this time than cotton. I tJ'ink tobacco is one 
of them. So are the grasses, when well cured and fed to the 
stock. They improve the Innd too, and keep it from washing. 
Lucerne is one of the finest grasses the farmer can grow, and it 
may be cut three or four times during the season. It is very 
nutritious and stock are fond of it, green or cured. General 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 47 

Davis, whilst our minister to France, said he saw the peasantry 
of that country eating it as greens. 

It requires less labor to grow wheat, rye, oats, barley and tne 
grasses, than it does to grow cotton; and this should be an im- 
portant consideration with the farmer, who has to hire labor. 
These crops too, are more profitable in proportion to the labor in 
raising them, than cotton. They also improve the land, instead 
of wearing it out, as cotton does. 

For many years it was supposed that the grape culture would 
never succeed in the United States. In 1846 I visited Mr. Ed- 
ward Everett, then President of the Cambridge University. He 
had been minister to Great Britain, and traveled all over Europe. 
He said to me that we never could succeed in cultivating the 
grape, that there was something in our climate which made 
grapes inferior to those of Europe. He remarked that the Chi- 
nese who lived in the same latitude that we do, on the other side 
of the earth, and were a very ingenious people, never had been 
able to make wine, and we could not in the United States. But 
within a few years after this conversation, wine was successfully 
made in Ohio and California. And it is now well known that the 
grape grows remarkably well in South Carolina, and that excel- 
lent wine is made in many parts of the State. Dr. Marshall, in 
his lifetime, planted a large vineyard on the side of Paris Moun- 
tain, in Greenville, and made several thousand gallons of wine. 
Mr. Buist, and several other gentlemen, living near Greenville 
City, have flourishing vineyards. Mr. Carpani, a Frenchman, 
has recently commenced a vineyard on a large scale, and so far 
has been successful. He says that our climate is better adapted 
to the culture of grapes than France. Mr. Garraux, a Swiss, has 
sold grapes this year, and made wine on one and a third acres, to 
the amount of six or nine hundred dollars, and I have seen it 
stated that Mr. Wanner, of Walhalla, has made on one acre, 
grapes and wine to the amount of seven or eight hundred dollars. 
How much more profitable, then, is the culture of the grape tban 
that of cotton. It would be well for our farmers to take this cul- 
ture into serious consideration. What a great blessing it would 
be, to have cheap wines, substituted for corn whiskey, in South 
Carolina, as a common beverage. 

We might make sorghum a valuable crop, and it is easily cul- 
tivated, and converted into molasses. Thousands of dollars 



48 Pendleton Farmers' kSocuty. 

might be saved in making molasses out of sorghum, for our ten- 
ants and hirelings, instead of purchasing an article not superior, 
from New Orleans. At least every farmer might, at little ex- 
pense, make enough for his own use. In course of time I have no 
doubt sugar will be made from sorghum molasses. 

It is very gratifying to see the interest taken all over the coun- 
try since the passage of the "stock law," in the improvement of 
cattle, hogs, sheep and horses. And perhaps, in no county in the 
State, is the interest greater than in and around old Pendleton, 
and it is manifested by the improved breeds of cattle and horses 
now on exhibition at this place. What a contrast between the 
fine Jersey and Holstein cows, seen here to-day, and the poor, 
scrub cattle that we used to see shivering in the winter rains and 
sleets, and fed on shucks and nubbins. The same contrast, too, 
may be seen in your breed of horses. 

The agricultural interest of the United States is more impor- 
tant than that of any other, and yet it has been heavily taxed, by 
the present Republican party in Congress to protect Northern 
manufacturers, the National Government collecting one hun- 
dred million of dollars over and above necessary expenses, ex- 
travagant as they have been. At this time there are four 
hundred millions of dollars lying idle in the Treasury, and 
yet the Eepublican party refuse to reduce the taxes paid by the 
people. The high tariff benefits only the capitalists, engaged in 
manufactures, and does not increase at all the wages of the poor 
operative. In 1841, before the present high war tariff was enac- 
ted, the wages of the operatives were higher than they now are. 
In England there are no free trade, no protection and their labor- 
ers are receiving higher wages than they did under protecting 
tariff. In Germany, France and Italy, where there is a high 
protection, the operatives do not receive as much for their labor 
as they do in England. 

This injustice to the agricultural interests of the country is a 
great shame, but can not be remedied whilst the present Eepubli- 
can party are in power. Hence the ensuing election for Presi- 
dent and members of Congress is of vital importance to the whole 
country, and especially to the Southern States. The Republican 
party has been in power more than twenty years and they have 
introduced corruption, trickery and swindling into every depart- 
ment of the government. During General Grant's administra- 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 49 

tion of eight years, the defalcations amounted to ten million dol- 
lars, stolen by the officers. In order to conceal their rascality the 
officers of the government have cut out leaves from public records 
and destroyed them. If there be no change soon our Kepublican 
system will be at an end and all boasted liberty sunk in corrup- 
tion. 

But I think it is almost as certain as any future event can be 
that Governor Cleveland, our Democratic candidate for the Presi- 
dency, will be elected on the fourth of November next. Then 
there will be a reform in all the departments of the Federal Gov- 
ernment — corruption will be at an end, taxes will be reduced, 
economy will be practiced, the rascals will be turned out of office, 
the constitution rights of the United States respected and our 
Eepublican Government restored to its original purity. Then we 
may expect to see the country prosperous and manufacturers will 
flourish as they never did before in the United States. 

The evil effects of a bad government on the prosperity and 
happiness of people are incredible to those who have never exper- 
ienced them. In illustration of this truth, I would refer to the 
seven or eight years of Eadical rule in South Carolina. All in- 
dustries were depressed, the negroes were idle, and the whole 
people seemed to have lost all their energy, taxes were ruinous, 
our fields uncultivated, in thousands of instances farms were 
sold, too, to pay taxes, and the people felt degraded when they 
reflected that their beloved State was under the regime of 
audacious rogues and ignorant scoundrels. 

But as soon as the State threw off the government of the Eadi- 
cals everything revived and our industries flourished, and the 
wealth of the State has been increasing five or six hundred thou- 
sand dollars every year since. We shall experience the same bless- 
ing when the Democratic party gets possession once more of the 
National Government. ISTo nation in the world ever prospered 
more rapidly than did these United States for fifty years under 
the Democratic party. The purchase of Louisiana, the purchase 
of Florida, the annexation of Texas, and the acquisition of 
California, were all made by Democratic administrations. Dur- 
ing this time, too, our shipping was on every sea and our com- 
merce was spread over the world, our agricultural products were 
increased a hundred fold and our manufactures were in a most 
flournishing condition under a moderate tariff. The war with 



50 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

Great Britain and the conquest of Mexico were likewise under 
Democratic rule. The rights of our sailors were vindicated in 
the war with Great Britain and our National honor maintained 
in our conquest of Mexico. 

In conclusion I beg to pay my respects to the ladies who have 
honored me with their presence here to-day. It is said to be 
happy you must have something to do, something to have and 
something to hope for. This is a wise saying and a most truth- 
ful saying. Then all farmers' wives should be happy. They have 
the full consideration of these three things in an eminent degree, 
besides the occupation of their ordinary household duties, they 
have their dairies to attend to, the milk of Jersey cows, the rich 
cream and golden butter to take care of and some attention to 
pay to their favorite live stock, feeding their poultry, etc. Be- 
sides their love for their husbands and the children, they have 
their pets to love, in fine horses, fine cows and fine dogs. Besides 
their hope for Heaven hereafter, they have to hope for good 
crops, increase of live stock, good seasons and many, very many, 
other things. But after all, our happiness in life depends very 
much on ourselves, our nature and our constitiition which wo 
may modify and improve but can not entirely change. Some 
persons are so constituted that they will be happy under any 
circumstances and in any condition of life, and there are others 
who will be happy nowhere and under no circumstances. It is 
their nature and they are to be pitied, not blamed. 

And now ladies and gentlemen, wishing that we could live to 
celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Pendleton Farmers' 
Society, and see the wonderful improvements which will take 
place in agriculture in thirty-one years to come, I bid you an 
affectionate farewell. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



52 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 



OLD PENDLETON. 

By J. C. Stephens. 

In Cotton Plant for April, 1890. 

This spot has always been the home of an educated, intelligent 
and refined people, and to-day every town and city in this State, 
yea, in every city in the United States, has within its borders 
some citizens who have a tender spot in their hearts that are 
warmed with fond recollections of old Pendleton, and rejoice with 
her citizens in the new life of the town which is now booming up. 

Clemson College is located in the edge of Oconee county not 
far from the corners of Oconee, Anderson and Pickens, some- 
thing more than three miles from the hospitable and cultured 
town of Pendleton, and in one of the richest sections in the Pied- 
mont belt. 

The college is planted in good soil and the "child of the farm" 
(the college) will be reared in a healthy and prosperous farming 
community, whose reputation for good farmers and great states- 
men is to South Carolina what Hempstead is to England. May 
the Clemson Agricultural College, perched upon an eminence 
amid the beautiful hills and rich valleys of the Piedmont, shine 
like a glittering star amid the darkest hours of every farmer of 
the State, and its influence for good be as bright as the noonday 
sun and shed its light upon every branch of industry within our 
State. 



PENDLETON FARMERS SOCIETY. 

Among the noted members of this Society who have died since 
the war, are Maj. George Seaborn, who was proprietor and editor 
of the old Farmer and Planter, published at Pendleton, and Maj. 
R. P. Simpson, member of Congress and an able writer on sub- 
jects pertaining to agi'iculture, and father of Col. E. W. Simp- 
son, the executor of the far-famed Clemson will — which was sus- 
tained in the Supreme Court of the United States, and a decision 
filed by that august body on the 7th of April, 1887, also presi- 
dent of the board of trustees of the Clemson College. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 53 

Thomas Stribling, one of the charter members of this Society 
is the father of Cornelius Kinchelo Stribling, who left his fath- 
er's home near Pendleton at the age of twelve years, walking all 
the way to Charleston, S. C, and later at the age of eighteen, 
1812, he entered the United States Navy as midshipman. From 
this adverse and trying tramp, in his start in life, this plucky 
young man made good at every station of promotion from mid- 
shipman to commodore, and finally was placed on the retired 
list as Eear Admiral of the United States Navy, and died in Mar- 
tinsburg, W. Virginia, 1880. 



Ex-Governor B. F. Perry, father of Congressman W. H. Perry, 
of Greenville, President 0. A. Bowen, and Hon. Thos. G. Clem- 
son, minister to Belgium under President Buchanan, a noted 
mineralogist and chemist for the Confederate government, soon 
after the war, while President of the Pendleton Farmers' Society, 
first began agitating the subject and feasibility of establishing 
a State Agricultural College, which culminated in the bequeath- 
ing at his death, "Fort Hill" plantation (the historical home of 
his father-in-law, John C. Calhoun), and a large endowment in 
money to establish and maintain an agricultural college at this 
place which is to-day the "Clemson Agricultural College" a house- 
hold word in every farmhouse in South Carolina, and rightly the 
honor and credit of having given more substantial aid towards 
promoting the interest of the farmer than any other citizen of 
this State is due to Mr. Clemson, through whose efforts and gifts, 
mainly, South Carolina has an agricultural college second to none 
in the South ; and the locating of this college at Fort Hill, under 
the shadow of the old farmers' hall of Pendleton, a veritable 
mother in agricultural institutions and progressive agriculture, 
seems in every way very appropriate. 

Col. L. J. Allston was the son-in-law of Aaron Burr and sub- 
sequently Governor of the State. The name is a familiar one in 
Georgia. Eev. Dr. Waddell, as an educator of youth, attained 



54 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

a fame and made an impress that is felt to-day throughout the 
South. CoL Joseph Grisham was the father of Mrs. Senator 
Joseph E. Brown, and grandfather of Judge J. J. Norton. 
George Eeese was the father of Dr. Milton Eeese and Addison 
Eeese, and the grandfather of Judge W. M. Eeese, who has illus- 
trated Georgia in high positions of honor and trust. 

The fruits of the workings of this Society may be seen in the 
number of well tilled stock farms around it, which is said to 
contain more and a greater variety of fine stock than any other 
section of the State. On every side of town may be seen rich 
meadows and pastures covered with fine stock that are increasing 
in value and average. 

Truly the Pendleton Farmers' Society has been a mighty fac- 
tor of good for the whole people. May it continue to live, labor 
and bless mankind forever. 



CHAPTER IX. 



WHOLLY EEMimSCENT. 

BY MAJOK BENJAMIN SLOAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 
SOUTH CAROLINA. 

My earliest recollections are of old Pendleton. I was born on 
my father's plantation which was separated from that of Mr. 
John C. Calhoun by the Seneca Eiver. His dwelling — long 
since burned — stood upon the crest of a high hill three quarters 
of a mile, perhaps, lower down and on the opposite side of the 
river from that of Mr. Calhoun. Before I was old enough seri- 
ously to take note of things he moved his family (in 1838), to 
a home which he had prepared in the village of Pendleton, and 
from which he could still attend to the plantation. This he 
did that his growing family might enjoy the advantages of the 
excellent schools already established there. The smaller chil- 
dren, boys and girls, were taught by Miss Mary Hunter, one of 
three spinister sisters, from Pennsylvania, who resided in a little 
house where now stands the home of Mr. Norton Hunter. Her 
school house stood in the edge of the Oak Grove contiguous to 
the lot on which Mr. Miles Hunter now resides. In many in- 
stances two generations of children passed under her faithful 
hands. As soon as it was judged that a child was sufficiently 
well versed in the three E's, if a boy, he was passed up to the 
]\Iale Academy, if a girl, up to the Female Academy, each of 
which was presided over by excellent teachers who were paid 
salaries — considering the cost of living now, and then — compar- 
able with the salaries now paid to full professors in the State 
Colleges. 

When I passed up to the Male Academy Mr. Joshua Grilman 
from Baltimore — a gentleman and a scholar — was the master. 
By means of his many attainments, his bonhomie and his firm 
character he kept the boys, large and small, well in hand. Even- 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 57 

tually he went to Mississippi, where he gained a competency and 
retired to an easier life. Up to the time of his death Mr. John 
C. Calhoun, as I remember it, was one of the school trustees. 
The school building, a wooden structure with two large rooms, 
was situated in the grove, close by the old Presbyterian Church, 
on the west side of the Greenville road. At one end of the 
larger room was a raised platform, flanked on either side by a 
small room used for storing globes — astronomical and geograph- 
ical, and apparatus — physical and chemical. Well do I remem- 
ber the experiments, usually made on Friday afternoons, with 
the various pieces of apparatus whicli for that period were quite 
up-to-date. The experiments made by means of the first-rate 
static electrical machine never ceased to startle me. The world 
was then, as now, groping in the dark to find out what was the 
nature of the 'electric fluid." as it was then called ; and, in 
spite of the wonderful uses to which electrical energy is to-day 
put, we are not one whit nearer to the discovery of the exact na- 
ture of electricity. It may be that we shall never know any more 
of its true nature than we know of the nature of that mysterious 
force which we have always with us — the force of gravity. 

In the school building was also a good library. The books 
of Classical Authors (translations); of History; of Travels; 
miscellaneous books of Science and of Standard English litera- 
ture were to be found upon its shelves. I believe all of these 
things have long since disappeared. 

Boys were prepared in that school for the Sophomore Class 
of South Carolina College. If they did not go to college they 
were at least fairly well equipped to begin life's battle. They 
were well grounded in English — Smith's grammar was used as 
the grammar text book, and, in my opinion, there is none so 
good in use to-day. Spelling which is to-day, alas, a lost art 
was persistently taught from the "Blue Back Spelling Book." 
The study of the Classics, as far as it v/as pursued, was thor- 
ough, and every boy, whether he intended to go to college or not, 
might have his try in Latin, at least as far as Caesar and Virgil ; 
and in Greek, through Xenophon. And so too could he pass 
through the intricacies of the pure mathematics, mastering arith- 
metic, algebra, geometry and trigonometry. Surveying was well 
taught. Geography and history of course had their full share of 
attention. In short, at that time the Pendleton Male Academy 



58 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

was truly a "High School." Would that we had to-day such a 
school in every county of the State. 

I might speak timthfuUy in terms of equally as high praise 
of the Female Academy which, as I first remember it, was 
presided over by the Misses Bates of Vermont — and most ac- 
complished women they were. After teaching in Pendleton for 
many years tliey went to Charleston, S. C, where for years they 
conducted successfully a school of high order. These ladies 
were followed by the Goulds, father and daughters, from Balti- 
more ; and then came Miss Jebb, a highly cultivated Irish woman, 
and while she was still there, (1853), I myself left the dear old 
village to ti-y my fortune in the wider world beyond. Since that 
time only at fitful periods has my residence been in Pendleton, 
or in its neighborhood. 

A "Labor School," as it was called, a school where boys were 
to be taught how to grow crops, to do carpenter's work, etc., had 
been at one time established on a farm several miles distant 
from the village. I believe the farm was afterwards owned by 
the father of Col. Richard Simpson. Its management, however, 
proved to be a dead failure, and the school soon perished. This 
event occurred, however, before my time. 

In those days, it seems to me, that the youths of society were 
not so cock-sure, as they are to-day, that they knew everything 
worth knowing and that they, only, knew what to do and how to 
do. On the other hand, intuitively they seemed to appreciate 
the fact that there was still before them a sterner school into 
which they really were not prepared to enter even as "preps." 
At any rate the memory of the high regard and esteem in which 
the older generation was then held by the members of the younger 
generation is still fresh with me. 

A reference to the annual rolls of the Pendleton Farmers' So- 
ciety, from its birth in 1815 through the first half of last cen- 
tury, will fully justify this tribute from the young people of that 
day, and commands, equally, respect and admiration from us 
grown-up people of to-day. What an array of names of illus- 
trious men do those rolls present. Con it for yourselves from 
the history of that famous old Society published in this book. 
Their descendants are now to be found in every part of this 
State and, indeed, in every part of the United States. 

The resident members were, in the main, sons of men who had 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 59 

first wrested that beautiful country from its savage wildness and 
then had given their strength and help in wresting it from Brit- 
ish rule. 

The Honorary members were, chiefly, non-residents; many of 
them, however, had summer homes, these were from Charleston 
and the coast, in the immediate vicinity of Pendleton. Mr. Cal- 
houn's residence was within a few miles of the village, but his 
public duties demanded the greater part of his time in Washing- 
ton. All of them were men of refinement and high culture. 
The names of many of them are identified not only with the 
history of South Carolina, but with the history of the United 
States. 

No wonder that old Pendleton should have been so aggres- 
sively progressive in eliminating savagery and in upbuilding civ- 
ilization. Excepting Charleston, here was established the first 
newspaper in the State, Tire Pendleton Messenger, and the first 
farmers' society, the Pendleton Farmers' Society; and here, too, 
was established one of the first agricultural magazines in the 
South, The Farmer and Planter, and here also was established 
one of the first mills in the South for spinning the cotton fibre 
into thread and weaving it into cloth, the Pendleton cotton fac- 
tory. 

The schools have already been spoken of. jSTo wonder they 
flourished as they did. The constant thought and care of these 
men gave to them life and nourishment, and from the lives of 
the men themselves inspiration was drawn. 

I can add nothing of value to the history of the Society. 
Youthful impressions are all I have to draw upon. At its an- 
nual fairs, usually, were gathered many notable men. Mr. Cal- 
houn, if he was at home, always attended. He gave to farming 
much serious thought, as he always did to things which he 
thought worth pursuing at all, and introduced into the neighbor- 
hood many improved farming methods; for if Mr. Calhoun did 
a thing, reasoned his neighbor, there must be something in it. 
I think he is responsible for the introduction of hill-side ditch- 
ing for protectino; the hills from gulleying; terracing, however, 
has sinced proved to be a better method. His practice induced 
farmers to plow deeper in preparing land for crops ; he brought 
to their attention methods of selecting seeds for sowing, and I 
think he introduced Bermuda grass into that section of country, 



60 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

a grass which is really a blessing to us of the South, but one 
which provokes the ire of a ploughman. 

I remember particularly his presence at one of the annual fairs 
and the great interest which he, as well as all the other gentle- 
men present, took in a "sub-soil" ploughing match. The match 
was held on the fair grounds in a lot adjoining Mr. W. H. D. 
Gaillard's garden, the Methodist parsonage now occupies the 
same space. Each exhibitor had his own plough-share and stock 
both home-made. The plough which even so youthful a lad as I 
readily saw distanced all others had a share, made of a bar of 
iron about two and a quarter inches wide by three quarters of an 
inch thick with a small wing welded on to the flat side near the 
pointed end, which was appropriately and securely attached to 
the stock. The share readily penetrated the soil to a depth of 
from ten to twelve inches, while the little wing, acting like a 
"ground-mole" beneath, beautifully pulverized the earth above. 
I had the impression at the time and have borne it with me for 
years that this device was due to Mr. Calhoun ; I have now, how- 
ever, reason to believe that it was really due to Dr. Broyles. I 
have yet to see a better sub-soil plough. 

I fancy I can now distinctly see Mr. Calhoun standing with 
face aglow, for the nonce all problems of statesmanship forgot- 
ten, watching the solution of the problem of "sub-soil" plough- 
ing. 

In the forties of last century an effort was made under the 
auspices, I think, of the Farmers' Society to introduce silk cul- 
ture into the neighborhood of Pendleton. At any rate the effort 
was made. Cocoons might be found in an outhouse of nearly 
every home, and "Multicaulis" trees, a rapid growing species of 
the mulberry, the leaves of which were to supply food for the 
silk worms, were rapidly and widely set, but the venture came 
to naught. There are, however, in the neighborhood, still, re- 
minders of this venture. Cocoons of the silk worms may yet be 
found in many an old outhouse, and occasionally in the waste 
places may be found specimens of the "Multicaulis," I am not 
sure that this is the botanical name. And perhaps there may be 
still another reminder in Mr. Speaker Joe Cannon's suit of silk 
and wool, for the silk and wool were spun, and the cloth was 
woven not far away from old Pendleton. 

In the days which have just been spoken of, Hamburg, dead 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 61 

now, was Pendleton's nearest market. In the fall, cotton, and 
whatever of salable produce might be on hand, was borne to 
this market in wagons which on their return brought back a 
year's supply of necessary goods, tea, coffee, sugar, molasses, salt, 
iron, etc., and such luxuries as the market could supply, and the 
weight of the pocket-book justified. All food stuffs other than 
those mentioned were produced at home. Each plantation was, 
in fact, as a separate principality. As far as victualing was con- 
cerned each might have stood a siege of considerable length, and 
in every way it was fairly well self-sustaining. Perhaps my 
father's was the most modest one of them all, but he had his car- 
penter, his blacksmith and wagon-maker, his shoemaker, carders 
and spinners of cotton and wool, looms and weavers of cloth, 
sempstresses and field laborers. There was a mill for grinding 
corn, machines for threshing and cleaning small grain (home- 
made both of them), a machine for husking and cleaning rice, a 
cotton gin and screw press (primitive both of them, it is true) 
and vats for tanning the hides of animals slaughtered. Horses, 
mules, cattle, sheep and hogs were bred and reared on the place. 
The planter truly lived at home, but his life was a busy one and 
full of responsibilities, and for his wife there was ever an impera- 
tive duty at hand. But it must be confessed that money was 
scarce. The price of cotton ranged from 5 to 6 cents per pound 
and corn sold from 40 to 50 cents a bushel ; the latter was con- 
sidered to be an excellent price. 

The yield of cotton per acre was also small, due chiefly to the 
variety of seed planted. It was difficult to clear the seed (green 
in appearance), of lint even with the fingers, and the gin left so 
much of it clinging to them that each seed resembled a fluffy 
little ball. The staple was very short, and in harvesting the crop, 
the 'locks" of cotton stuck so closely in the bolls that the very 
best "picker" could gather not more than 100 pounds per day. 

The evolution of the many splendid varieties of cotton, now 
produced, from the old "green seed" cotton is due to the persist- 
ent and highly intelligent scientific work of individuals, 
throughout the cotton producing belt, who in turn have been 
stimulated to action by just such organizations as the pioneer of 
them all, the Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

Before closing this paper it may be said, with emphasis, that 
it is eminently fitting that the great "Clemson Agricultural and 



62 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

Mechanical College" should be, as it is, fimily established on the 
lands of that farmer and exalted citizen and statesman who in 
loyalty and devotion to his State, stood pre-eminent, Mr. John C. 
Calhoun ; and established, too, right in the heart of that country 
whose citizens took the initiative in organized effort to uplift 
the farmer and to magnify his calling. 



CHAPTEE X. 



Social Visiting Farmers' Club. 

The following epitome of the minutes of our Social Visiting, 
or Auxiliary of the Old Pendleton Farmers' Society is contri- 
buted by H. E. Eavenel, the prime promoter and diligent secre- 
tary of the club, and a son of H. E. Eavenel, a prominent mem- 
ber of the old Society, who died in 1863. 

Pendleton, S. C, January 24, 1883. 

The Club met at Mr. J. C. Stribling's place. Present were, 
Eev. W. H. Hanckel, and Messrs. Taylor, Lewis, McCrary, Eav- 
enel, — Mr. Stribling in the chair. 

It was resolved that it be made the duty of the present commit- 
tee of four to draft an address to the Pendleton Farmers' Society 
to explain our object in joining it. 

It was also resolved that it be recommended to every member 
of this Association to authorize Mr. Stribling to propose out 
names for membership at the next meeting of the Pendleton Far- 
mers' Society; that it is our sense that the same is a duty upon 
us ; that it be made Mr. Eavenel's duty to inform the members of 
this resolution, and of the time of the next meeting of the Pen- 
dleton Farmers' Society. 

The next meeting was appointed to be at the residence of Eev. 
W. H. Hanckel. 

The business meeting adjourned. The Club inspected Mr, 
Stribling's silo. It exhibits very satisfactory and instructive re- 
sults. The whole inspection and discussion was most beneficial. 
Proceeded to examine his premises, found all arranged for econ- 
omy and convenience. Also grain and grass crops, giving rise to 
one of our customary instructive talks. Also an experiment in 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 65 

preserving potato vines in a bank, opened in the presence of the 
Club, and found all of the vines entirely rotten. The bank was 
not protected, and it was agreed that the experiment should be 
tried in a sheltered bank. We expect one or more members to do 
it next year. Also saw Mr. Stribling's application of grass ter- 
races instead of hill-side ditches. He uses tall meadow oat grass, 
and is a clear advocate of the system. 



Pendleton, S. C, April 19, 1883. 

The Club met at Mr. George E. Taylor's place. Present were, 
Mr. Taylor, Eev. Jno. B. Adger, Eev. W. H. Hanckel, Mrs. C. 
Hanckel, L. A. Bellotte, D. K. Norris, H. E. Ravenel, and J. E. 
Lewis. 

The day was chiefly spent in discussing agricultural questions, 
with a due mixture of other matters. 

Dr. Adger said that he wanted the opinion of the members on 
certain questions, to wit: He has a piece of difficult bottom 
which he wishes to put in grass, will it do to plant the land in 
corn, and sow the grass at the last working, or will the grass not 
stand the summer sun ; that is, the kind we are accustomed to sow 
in this country. It was questioned then whether the land would 
not be too foul at the time, but Mr. Lewis proposed that the land 
should be planted in corn very late, say between the 1st and 10th 
of June, so that it would not have time to get very foul, and it 
was thought by thorough preparation, late planting and careful 
working this difficulty could be averted. Mr. Bellotte suggested 
that probably one bushel of peas sown Avith the grass would shade 
it from the excessive heat without choking it, ond would also im- 
prove the land when it died down. The idea was deemed useful 
and practicable, the manner of getting rid of the corn stalks 
and stubble after harvest also received some attention. The 
result obtained bv the doctor will be interesting, as the whole 
matter is new and experimental to those present. 

The doctor further wanted counsel on the question of how to 
treat a very rough and obstinate hill-side next to his barnyard. 
It was thought he might succeed with Bermuda grass upon it, 
and so make it valuable. 

Mr. Norris brought up the question of the limit of our produc- 
tion of cotton per acre, and the practical extent of our competi- 



66 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

tion with regions south and southwest. The comparison received 
some discussion, in which, without getting the most definite 
practical results, it was pointed out that we must admit our cli- 
mate and lands to seem by present indications not such a nat- 
ural home for cotton as the middle or coast sections of South 
Carolina, and other regions similarly situated, but against this 
we set our ability to raise more grasses and better stock, to drink 
purer water, to live on our plantations all the year, and to pre- 
serve health. 

Further, experience justifies the expectations that we may pro- 
duce a bale of cotton to the acre, without manuring to excessive 
cost. 

Mr. Eavenel asked some questions about planting cotton in 
checks, and the putting seed immediately on acid phosphate, 
which last he had done to a small extent this year, the first to a 
large extent. Mr. Norris stated that he had seldom seen a good 
stand of cotton in checks, and thought it would be well always to 
drill seed, and then plow out if checks were desired. Mr. Bel- 
lotte said that he had planted seed on a limited quantity of acid, 
with good results. 

A matter of much importance was l)rought to attention, touch- 
ing the production of crab grass for ha}^, its value and its relation 
to other grasses, as affects us. Mr. Norris points out that crab 
grass is indigenous here. If fertilized, turned over and left a cer- 
tain period of the year, say from the 15th of ]\Iay till the middle 
of summer, most land in this country will of itself produce one to 
two crops of luxuriant crab grass, and after removing the crop, 
afford an excellent pasture till frost. The grass is easily cured, 
makes far better hay than much that is put on the market, is 
palatable and nutritious. Mr. Norris had much experience with 
it in the middle country, and some members use it quite largely 
here. With this at our doors, why do we seek to import so many 
grasses at such expense, beyond what we need simply for winter 
pastures? The question received no satisfactory reply. 

In relation to the question of excessive manuring of land, the 
Eev. Mr. Hanckel gave the result of an experiment made in the 
low country which went to show that tbere is no such thing as 
over-manuring. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 67 

Mr. Taylor did not take the Chib over his place, giving for 
his modest reason the explanation that he had really nothing to 
show, but we saw from his piazza some very attractive fields of 
grain, and a young orchard which, in future years will cause the 
Club to appoint his day in the fruit season ; and the dinner, pre- 
sided over by Mrs. Taylor, gave proof of a garden about which 
the rest of the company indulged in savagely remarks, while 
our jealousy in no way impaired our appetites. The secretary 
thought the other members had better not tell their wives what 
Mrs. Taylor had, and the other members thought the secretary 
had better get a wife to be told. 

Adjourned soon after dinner. 

Henry Edmund Eavenel, Sec. 



Pendleton, S. C, May 17, 1883. 

The Club met at the residence of Mr. D. K. Norris. Present 
were Messrs. Norris, Harris, C. Hanckel, Taylor, Stribling, 
McCrary, Lewis, Eavenel, also Messrs. Caldwell, Henry S. Tres- 
eott, and Miles Pickens, who were with us for the first time, in 
all. 

Mr. Norris after some arguing, took the members over portions 
of his place. The spring oats seen were not very promising, and 
Mr. Norris said that he had seventy acres in the same condition, 
and no fall oats. The crop was a sight to be regretted. The sea- 
son seems to have been generally unfavorable to spring oats, and 
on Mr. Norris' place the later droughts have been especially dam- 
aging. Going on, we saw many acres of very fine wheat, promis- 
ing excellent yield. It was on fresh ground, Mr. Norris' place 
being entirely or almost entirely, land which he has cleared in the 
last few years. He moved upon it a few years ago when all was 
forest, and has subdued and brought into good tilth several hun- 
dred acres of strong, well laid land. We saw a part of his cotton 
crop, looking well. 

We also saw his underground drains, simply two boards nailed 
together like a trough, and put in inverted. One which was seen 
to be doing its work well by a copious discharge of water, Mr. 
Norris said had been put down for five years. Others had been 
in the ground shorter periods. 

In the bottom drained by these instruments Mr. Norris hopes 



68 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

this year to make one hundred bushels of corn to the acre. We 
shall take interest in the result. 

At the house a business meeting was held. The minutes of the 
meeting previously held at Mr. Stribling's and Mr. Taylor's 
places were read and confirmed. 

On motion it was resolved that a special subject be discussed at 
every meeting, one gentlemen to be first heard on each side, and 
then the debate to become general. The subject chosen for next 
meeting is: "Crab-grass as a money crop; viewed also in its re- 
lation to domestic consumption, and in relation to other grasses." 

Mr. Norris was appointed to present views in favor of crab 
grass, and Mr. Stribling against. The subject has already some 
informal discussion at more than one meeting. 

The next meeting was called at Mr. Eavenel's for June 21st. 

The Club was entertained at dinner, presided over by Mrs. 
Norris, and after considerable time spent very agreeably the 
members dispersed. 

Henry Edmund Eavenel, Sec. 



Pendleton, S. C. June 21, 1883. 

The Club met at the residence of Mr. H. E. Ravenel. Present 
were Messrs. Lewis, Taylor, Norris, Eev. W. H. Hanckel, C. 
Hanckel, Trescott, Bellotte, Eavenel, and also the following visi- 
tors, Mr. B. Frank Sloan, Mr. L. W. Jordan, both of Seneca City, 
and Messrs. S. P. Eavenel, and S. P. Eavenel, Jr. of Highlands, 
N". C. ; and also Messrs. D. and M. P. Eavenel of Keowee, S. C, 
and Mr. C. C. DuBose of Keowee. 

Some inspection of the Eavenel's farming was made, though 
the day was too hot to go far. The Club saw some checked cot- 
ton, and several acres of cotton manured with about 2500 lbs. of 
the Furman Formula to the acre, under several different methods 
of application, of some of which Mr. Bellotte gave particular ex- 
planation. 

The Club also particularly inspected experiments with Ber- 
muda grass on uplands, so far very unpromising, and suffering 
from drought. 

On entering the house dinner was had, presided over by Mrs. 
Eavenel. Afterwards a business meeting was held, the Secretary 
in the chair. The minutes of the last meeting was read and ac- 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 69 

cepted. Mr. Norris delivered a well received talk on crab grass, 
Mr. Stribling, who had been appointed upon the discussion, was 
absent. 

On motion, the following subject was adopted for the next 
meeting: "Oat culture, with special consideration of the ques- 
tion whether or not oats should be planted in cotton. Messrs. 
Lewis and Eavenel were appointed to lead the discussion. 

The meeting was fixed for July 19, at Mr. J. E. Lewis' place. 

Adjourned. 

Henry Edmund Ravenel, Sec. 



Pendleton, S. C, August 16, 1883. 

The Club was called to meet to-day at the residence of Rev. 
Jno. B. Adger. 

Present were Dr. Adger, in the chair, Messrs. McCrary, Lewis, 
Trescott, Stribling, and Eavenel, and Mr. W. M. Porcher of 
Berkley County, a guest. 

There was something interesting and a good paper read from 
Mr. Stribling on the subject of preservation of land from wash- 
ing. He advocated doing away with ditches on hill-sides. Some of 
those present were convinced by their experience that the system 
would not do on steep lands. No method of saving washing bot- 
toms seemed to be known or imagined, unless it be setting them 
in grass. A system of ditching and banking on outer angle has 
been spoken of favorably for narrow creek bottoms. Much dis- 
couragement was expressed at the want of interest in the club on 
the part of many members. 

Those present sat down to a hospitable dinner. The next 
place of meeting was necessarily left unsettled, to be fixed by the 
Secretary on consultation with certain members. 

Henry Edmund Eavenel, Sec. 



CHAPTER XI. 



72 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

THE BEGINNING OF CLEMSON COLLEGE. 

Planting the Germ That Grew Up Into Clemson Agricul- 
tural College, South Carolina's Great Institution 
OF Learning in Successful Operation. 

At an impromptu meeting held in Pendleton Farmers' Hall 
the 24th of November, 1866, the following named members were 
present: Hons. Thos. G. Clemson, William H. Trescott, Hon. 
R, F. Simpson, Eev. A. H. Cornish, Rev. Hugh McLees, MaJ. 
Benjamin Sloan, Col, W. A. Hayne, Dr. P. H. E. Sloan. 

At this meeting a committee consisting of Hon, R. F. Simp- 
son, Col. W. A. Hayne, Hon. Thos. G. Clemson were appointed 
a committee to appeal to their fellowmen for aid to found an 
institution for educating our people in the science of agriculture. 
This committee then engaged Hon. W. H. Trescott to draft the 
following circular letter as an address from said committee to the 
people. 

Dr. P. H. E. Sloan who has held the Secretary-Treasurer of- 
fice of Clemson College since the college was founded up to 
date, and held same position of Pendleton Farmers' Society from 
1875 to 1886, endorses foregoing statement as follows: 

The above meeting was held in my office, and is correct. 

(Signed) P. H. E. Sloan. 



January, 1867. 

At a previous meeting, held the 24th of November, 1866, Hon. 
R. F. Simpson, Col. R. A. Hayne and Hon. Thos. G. Clemson, 
were appointed a committee to appeal to their fellowmen for aid 
to found an institution for educating our people in the sciences, 
to the end that our agriculture may be improved, our worn and 
impoverished lands be recuperated and the great natural resour- 
ces of the South be developed. 

Whereupon at a subsequent meeting of the said Society held as 
above (January, 1867). The Hon. Thos. G. Clemson addressed 
the Society in an interesting and most able and instructing dis- 
course and submits the following appeal, in the form of a circular 
which by direction of the Society was printed and fully circu- 
lated, both at home and abroad. At the same meeting many in- 
teresting addresses and essays were delivered and read to the 
Society by Mr. R. A. Maxwell, Col. Livingston and others, after 
which the Societv adjourned. 

T. S. Hayne, Sec. T. R. S., S. C. 




TiTo:\[ \s Green Clemson. 




'-a 

o 
O 

o 



CHAPTEE XII. 



74 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

CIECULAE. 

WRITTEN BY HOIsr. W. H. TRESCOTT. 

At the meeting of the Agriciiltural Society of Pendleton, S. C, 
held on the 24tli of November, 1866^ in its hall at Pendleton, An- 
derson District, Hon. E. F. Simpson, Col. E. A. Hayne and Hon. 
Thomas Q. Clemson were appointed a Committee to appeal to 
tlieir fellowmen for aid, to found an institution for educating our 
people in the sciences, to the end that our agriculture be im- 
proved, our worn, impoverished lands be recuperated, and the 
great natural resources of the South developed. 

Considering the prostrate, and almost hopeless condition of 
our country; our cities, churches, farm-houses, fences burned; 
our banks, railroad companies, and other institutions which held 
the savings of the old, the helpless, the orphans, etc., made 
bankrupt; our plate, watches, furniture, cattle, horses, the trin- 
kets and clothing of our women and children, even the contents 
of our granaries and meat-houses carried off or destroyed; a 
large portion of our most productive lands sequestered from their 
owners to the freedmen; we are grievously taxed without repre- 
sentation ; our property under the Constitution liberated without 
compensation ; we have been left without food, or the means with 
which to purchase that which the harvests have failed to produce. 

Considering that our lands are so impoverished by the growth 
and exportation of cotton, that much of them will not pay the 
cost of cultivation, and that our agriculture generally is in a 
wretched condition ; that legislation has failed to protect the agri- 
cultural resources of the Commonwealth from unnecessary and 
wholesale spoliation ; that we have emerged from an unmerciful 
war, in which we engaged to support a Constitution under which 
we were bom and educated, and find ourselves ruined, but with 
natural resources undeveloped ; our population leaving their 
smouldering homes for other and far distant lands ; our mineral 
wealth no less varied, than vast, intact; our immense water pow- 
ers without application, either to irrigation or manufacture; our 
best lands undrained, unprofitably luxuriant, and rife with pes- 
tilential emanations; that avenues to honor and wealth are re- 
stricted for the want of science, upon M^hich the arts are based, 
and without which civilization can not advance; and that ignor- 
ance is the cause of our destitution, and the parent of crime, mis- 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 75 

ery and death. We, the Committee on behalf of the Agricultural 
Society, and our fellow-citizens, now make this our earnest ap- 
peal to the well-disposed of all classes and sects, for aid to found 
an institution for the diffusion of scientific knowledge, that our 
civilization may advance, and we may once more become a happy 
and prosperous people. We believe without such institutions, we 
shall ever continue to be at the mercy of ignorant politicians and 
demagogues; but with them, we have a hopeful, if not a bright 
future for our descendants. An appeal more exalted and benefi- 
cent in design, for a people more deserving, was never offered for 
the consideration of the civilized world. 

If this, our prayer, meets with sufficient response, an institution 
will go into operation from whence science of the highest order, 
in all its forms, will be gratuitously dispensed to unborn millions. 

This upper region of South Carolina would appear, above all 
others, adapted for the location of such an institution. For the 
picturesque, this mountain region will vie with Switzerland. For 
health and climate, it is not excelled, if equalled, by any portion 
of North America. 

Donations of funds, books, apparatus, are earnestly solicited, 
and considering the purposes of the Society, it is hoped that all 
public carriers, railroads and express companies will exempt pack- 
ages from charges. 

A record will be carefully kept and handed down to posterity, 
accrediting the donors for their respective contributions. Agri- 
cultural and other societies, and those who may have influence, 
would confer obligations upon the Society by acting as agents in 
collecting and forwarding contributions. 

Editors of newspapers, and other publishers, are respectfully 
requested to give insertions to this appeal, that it may meet the 
eyes of all who feel an interest in the advancement of civilization 
in this ruined, but still a part of our common country. 

Letters and contributions to be directed to Hon. Thos. G. 
Clemson, LL.D., Chairman of Committee, Pendleton, Ander- 
son District, South Carolina. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



DEFECTS m OUR SYSTEM OF FARMING: SUGGES- 
TIONS FOR CORRECTING THEM. 

An Address Delivered Before the Pendleton Farmers' 

Society. 

by dr. tait butler, director of the farmers' institutes of 
north carolina, february 13, 1908. 

I shall devote my attention to a discussion of the following 
statement of what I deem unquestionable facts : 

1. What is the matter with South Carolina agriculture? 
There is something radically wrong with the system of agricul- 
ture practiced by any State when the gross earnings of every ag- 
ricultural worker averages less than $175 per year. 

2. The great problem of those interested in the agricultural 
uplift of the State is: How can the earning capacity of the 
agricultural worker be raised to a point sullficient to induce our 
boys and girls and our laborers to stay on the farm ? 

3. My answer to this question is : We must have more agri- 
cultural knowledge, more farm machinery, more work stock, 
more general live stock husbandry. 

4. More live stock is essential to greater soil fertility and a 
more economical marketing or utilization of the products of the 
soil. 

5. More farm work stock and more farm machinery are es- 
sential to the full utilization of human labor. 

6. Sufficient farm work stock will never be had until we breed 
it. 

7. We will not breed sufficient farm work stock so long as 
we buy feed for live stock. 




1. Calhoun i\lANf5joN. 2. liAUfSACKs. .'!. Textile J^uildijvci. -I. AciiucuLTUKAL Hall, 

Ci.KMsoN College, 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 79 

I have distributed among you sheets of jDaper on which is a 
comparison of certain phases of Iowa and South Carolina agri- 
culture to which I invite your careful attention. I realize that 
comparisons are odious, but I make these solely for the purpose 
of graphically presenting the subject which I propose to discuss. 
My thirteen-year old boy — who has been studying the record of 
South Carolinians in the late unpleasantnessi — after reading these 
comparisons looked very seriously at me and asked : "Papa, 
are you going down to South Carolina and tell those people 
what you have written there?" I replied, "Yes, my son, that 
is my intention." After a short period of thoughtful silence 
he again said, "You had better not do it; for those people sure 
can fight, if they can't farm." 

If it would not be less dangerous it certainly would be more 
pleasant to recount the glorious achievements of your famous 
men, for who could not find inspiration for his best efforts with 
a Calhoun or a Hampton as a subject, or we might easily find 
it discussing your delightful climate, natural resources and un- 
surpassed agricultural possibilities; or we might take peculiar 
satisfaction in paying our respectful homage to the courage and 
chivalry of your manhood and the beauty and refinement of your 
women ; but the professional orators and politicians can do such 
tasks far better than I, so I shall not trespass on the field which 
they have ever cultivated so assiduously and successfully. 

Moreover, if we have not had too much of this palatable, if 
not overly nutritious mental food in the past, I feel quite cer- 
tain we may depend upon our good friends mentioned, to supply 
our every need in the days to come. 

I now- desire to call your special attention to certain facts 
stated on the sheets which have been distributed among you. Be- 
fore considering these I may state that in estimating the num- 
ber of agricultural workers all those, male and female, above ten 
years old who are engaged in any kind of agricultural pursuits 
were counted. 

In calculating average earnings of agricultural workers the 
gross value of the products were used, which, of course, in- 
cludes value of live stock products. 

In estimating the value of fertilizers used per acre all im- 
proved land, no matter how used, was taken as the basis on which 
the calculation was made. 



80 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

Please not what is brought out by the first five points in our 
comparison; namely, that while Iowa has five times as much im- 
proved land ; produces more than five times the valine of agricul- 
tural products and each acre of improved land is worth nearly 
five times as much as that of South Carolina, she still has a 
less numljer of agricultural workers. Iowa's improved lands 
produce only forty cents more per acre than the improved lands 
of South Carolina. 

Now note, comparison six, what the foregoing statements 
mean : namely, that the average agricultural worker in Iowa 
earns more than five and one-half times that earned by the aver- 
age agricultural worker in this State. 

The remainder of the comparisons made are to show the rea- 
sons for the much greater earning capacity of the Iowa farmer 
over his brother in South Carolina. 

He cultivates more than five and one-half times as much land 
because he uses seven times the horses and mules and nineteen 
times the value of agricultural implements; while his expense 
for fertilizers is one seventy-eighth and he is assisted by cattle 
valued at 35 times, hogs valued at 33 times, dairies that produce 
9 times and hens that produce 23 times as much as his South 
Carolina competitor who will not care for and feed live stock 
because forsooth it is too much trouble. 

Now, my friends, we hear much about the boys and girls leav- 
ing the farms and of the scarcity of labor, but I tell you in all 
earnestness and sincerity that the boy who can not earn more 
than the average of $174 per year ought to leave the farm or is 
not worth worrying about. Of course he will leave the fann, 
and I am here to approve his judgment and say God speed him. 

Moreover, farm laborers will not stay on the farms, and those 
who have left will not return, unless they can earn more — unless 
you can pay them more — and they never can as long as there is 
only one horse and $14 worth of agricultural implements for 
every two of them to use. 

Moreover, you have not done your duty to those boys who have 
stayed on the farms, and after all that have left there are still 
a great many of your people living in the country. You have 
made great sacrifices to educate those who have left, to become 
doctors, lawyers and preachers, but what have you done for 
those who you know were going to stay on the farms? 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 81 

I have no quarrel with you because of what you have done for 
those boys that have gone to the cities and towns to supply fresh 
blood and energy, always so much needed there, but I ask, I in- 
sist that you do as well by the boys that are to farm. When 
you do the earning capacity of each agricultural worker in the 
State will be raised far above $174 per year. 

As to the labor question, I laiow you will think me unortho- 
dox, but I do not hesitate to declare that you already have too 
much labor ! You have not more than one-fifth enough horses 
and mules; less than one-fifteenth the agricultural implements 
and not nearly enough improved land to profitably employ those 
you already have. With sufficient work stock and suitable ma- 
chinery and implements the laborers now on your farms can be 
made to do four times what they now accomplish. 

What is the solution? Educate the farmer and he will get 
more and better farm work stock and use more and better farm 
implements to cultivate more and better land. You need more 
live stock because it is also the essential basis of permanent and 
economical soil improvement. While your improved acres pro- 
duce as much in value of products and much more per dollar 
of their market value than those of Iowa they ought and will 
produce four times as much under a proper system of agricul- 
ture involving the feeding of sufficient live stock. 

The great need of our soils is more humus, more decaying 
organic — vegetable matter, and stable manure is the most eco- 
nomical method of supplying that material. 

You need more live stock because no farm product that is suit- 
able for feed for live stock ever ought to be put into the ground 
direct as a fertilizer. Such products have a double value — a 
fertilizer and a feeding value — and not more than twenty-five 
per cent, of the former need be lost in securing the latter. 

I have now given you my answer to the question : What is the 
matter with South Carolina agriculture? I have also in a geii- 
eral way pointed out the remedy and now I propose to devote 
a little time to showing how the remedy may be .secured and 
applied. 

More live stock of necessity means more feed for live stock, 
and I therefore propose to consider briefly three by-products of 
South Carolina farms that are suitable for feedins; live stock 



82 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

from which you do not now secure more than one-half their real 
value. I believe I can show that we already have and are wast- 
ing feed enough to keep double the live stock we now maintain. 
The three by-products which I shall discuss are present on 
nearly every farm : 

1. Cottonseed and cottonseed meal. 

2. Corn stover. 

3. Legume hays. 

Cottonseed. 
Cottonseed has two values which the farmer should consider — 
a feeding value and a fertilizer value. 

Feeding Value. 

100 pounds of cottonseed — 116 pounds of corn. 

100 pounds of cottonseed meal — 150 pounds of cottonseed. 

100 pounds of cottonseed meal — 175 pounds of corn. 

Cottonseed lias two values which the farmer should consider 
at $23 per ton. and corn at 40c. per bushel, are about equally 
cheap for feeding purposes. 

Fertilizer Value. 
One ton of cottonseed contains : 

75 pounds of ammonia at 6 1-2 cents $12.35 

26 pounds of phosphoric acid at 4 1-2 cents 1.17 

24 pounds of potash at 5 cents 1.20 

Total ; $14.72 

If cottonseed be fed to cattle and the manure saved with rea- 
sonable care, seventy-five per cent, of their original fertilizer 
value may be retained in the manure. In other words, when 
cottonseed are fed to cattle and the manure saved with reasonable 
care, a ton of cottonseed will give $11.04 worth of manure, at 
the prices paid for mixed commercial fertilizer; that is, by 
feeding cottonseed to cattle, we can get per ton: 

Fertilizer value of $11.04 

Feeding value of 16.66 

Total $27.70 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 83 

Cottonseed Meal. 
The fertilizer value of a ton of cottonseed meal analyzing 6.5 
per cent, of nitrogen, 2.5 per cent, phosphoric acid and 1.5 per 
cent, potash is about: 

130 pounds nitrogen at 20 cents $26.00 

50 pounds phosphoric acid at 4 1-2 cents 2.25 

30 pounds potash at 5 cents 1.50 

Total $29.75 

After feeding, three-fourths of this fertilizer value, or $22.31, 

may be recovered in the manure when saved with reasonable 

care. 

The feeding value as stated is $25 a ton on a basis of 40 cents 

per bushel for corn; therefore the total farm value of a ton of 

cottonseed meal when fed is : 

Feeding value $25.00 

Manurial value 22.31 

Total $47.31 

If it is claimed that these are too high values to put on cotton- 
seed meal and cottonseed then I reply that either corn is not 
worth 40 cents per bushel to feed or you are paying too much 
for your commercial fertilizer. 

Corn Stover. 

As the corn crop is grown for food purposes only we should 
study its food value and harvest it so as to obtain the most from 
it. Taking the whole corn plant: 

46 per cent, is ear (grain and cob). 

54 per cent, is stover (stalk, blades and shucks). 

But the animals are able to use as feed a larger percentage 
of the grain than of the stover, hence the feeding value of the 
corn plant is : 

Ear 51 per cent. 

Stover 49 per cent. 

The greatest food value will be obtained from the plant when 
it is put into a silo and fed as silage. 

When harvested for the grain or ears the whole plant should 
be cut and the stover used as feed for live stock. 



84 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

Pulling Corn Fodder is Expensive, Wasteful and Does 

Not Pay. 

In experiments made to test the effect of iDulling fodder on 
the yield of weig-hed shelled corn per acre the following results 
have been obtained : 

Georgia — Pulled 23.9 bushels per acre; untouched 27.3 bush- 
els per acre; loss 3.4 bushel per acre. 

Florida — Pulled 28.2 bushels per acre; untouched 31.1 bushels 
per acre; loss 2.9 bushel per acre. 

Mississippi — Stripped 35.5 bushels per acre; topped 29 bush- 
els per acre; untouched 43.5 bushels per acre; loss 14.5 bushels 
per acre. 

Alabama — (Two trials) ; loss 4 bushels per acre; average loss 
6 bushels per acre. 

Fodder Obtained. 

Georgia — 270 pounds per acre. 

Florida — 580 pounds per acre. 

Mississippi — 936 pounds per. acre (tops included). 

Average — 595 pounds per acre. 

These figures indicate that on an average 6 bushels of shelled 
corn per acre when sacrificed for 595 pounds of fodder, and the 
labor and cost of pulling of the fodder thrown in. 

The feeding value of six bushels of corn is nearly as great 
as 595 pounds of fodder, therefore the man who pulls fodder 
pays for the fodder obtained in loss of corn and has the pleas- 
ure he gets out of the delightful task of pulling fodder as his 
sole reward. 

One acre of corn, yielding twenty-five bushels of shelled corn, 
will give an average of over one ton of stover (stalks, leaves and 
shucks). To harvest an acre and shuck the corn and shred the 
fodder costs from $3.00 to $2.50. A ton of stover is worth as 
much for feeding as 1,500 pounds of timothy hay bought from 
the North for $20.00. This stover costs $3.00 a ton to secure 
with the harvesting of the com crop thrown in and if fed to 
steers they will pay $5.00 a ton for it. At least they have paid 
me that much for it for the last three years. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 85 

Thousands of tons of this valuable feed is allowed to waste in 
South Carolina each year while you buy thousands of tons of hay 
and pay from $20.00 to $25.00 a ton for it. 

Legume Hays. 

A ton of cowpea hay has a fertilizer value of about $12.00. 
A ton of peavine hay is equal to 1,600 pounds of wheat bran for 
feeding purposes, but if we estimate its feeding value at $8 per 
ton then when cowpea hay is fed and the manure saved with 
reasonable care we get a total value from one ton as follows : 

Manurial value $ 9.00 

Feed value 8.00 

Total $17.00 

These values are all reasonable and AWthin the bounds of prac- 
tical operations but can not be obtained unless we feed better 
live stock, give that live stock better care and save the manure 
as its value justifies. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



88 Pendleton Farmers' SocieUj. 

CHAMPION COEN BAISEBS OF THE WOELD. 

In 1887, Z. Y. Drake, of Marlboro County, S. C, beat the 
world's record by producing 255 1-4 bushels of corn on one acre, 
winning a prize of $1,000 offered by The American Agricul- 
turist. 

In 1906, J. A. Tindal, of Clarendon County, S. C, won the 
prize of that year open to the United States by growing 182 
bushels of corn on one acre. 

On account of their record in growing corn, the names of these 
gentlemen has been placed upon the roll of the Pendleton Farm- 
ers' Society as honorary members of the Society. 



CHAMPION EICE YIELD. 

In 1843, Dr. 0. E. Broyles grew 110 bushels of rice, weighing 
43 3-4 pounds per bushel, on one acre on Eighteen Miles Creek, 
near Pendleton^, supposed to beat the world's record at that date. 



CHAPTER XV. 



"GOOBEE JACK/' THE EUNAWAY SLAVE. 

The Story of One of The Piedmont's Most Picturesque 
AND Notorious Slave-time Characters. 

BY COL. J. C. STRIBLING. 

From The Charleston News and Courier, 1908. 

(The story which follows is one of the many original articles 
which will appear in the forthcoming history of the Pendleton 
Farmers' Society, which was organized in 1815, and of which 
many of the most distinguished men in South Carolina have been 
members. The gentlemen who are engaged in compiling this 
narrative have kindly permitted the exclusive publication in 
the Sunday Neivs of this delightful narrative of ante-bellum 
days.) 

Doubtless old "Goober Jack" was the most notorious character 
that ever lived among the slave-time negroes of the Piedmont 
section of South Carolina. His reputation among those of his 
race was similar to that of the heroic and daring Capt. Morgan 
among the Confederate soldiers; and a history of the Pendleton 
Farmers' Society would be incomplete without a sketch of the 
old-time darkies and the amusing and peculiar traits of the 
famous runaway negro. 

The name "Goober Jack" had been given to this particular 
darky on account of his especial fondness for pinders or pea- 
nuts. During his runaway or hiding out period Jack would dig 
goobers, or peanuts, at night from any peanut patch that might 
be conveniently situated and store the spoils of his foraging in 
liolloM' Iocs, trees or stumps for future use. At times, during 
the fall or winter, the range of Goober Jack could be traced 
by the little heaps of goober hulls which could be found at the 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 91 

roots of hollow trees, old logs or stumps, or about the entrance 
to rocky caves, where the wild squirrels had broken into the 
darky's store and availed themselves of a liberal dividend from 
the accumulated earnings of common stock without the services 
of a receiver for the proper adjustment of the liquidation. 

Goober Jack's resources for supplies, while "out in the 
woods," were numerous and blest with abundance. He had but 
to levy tribute upon any handy potato patch or goober field, 
milk the cows that in those days were stalled in open pens win- 
ter and summer, and in summer, upon the orchards, melon 
patches and roasting ear fields, all of which usually produced 
in abundance. And frequently, when the sweetening frosts of 
autumn had come, Jack often gathered the luscious persimmon 
and a 'possum from the same tree. And he was also an expert 
in the art of suppressing effectually the riotous noise which the 
fowls about the barnyard usually make when disturbed in the 
dark hours of the night by being suddenly pulled from the limb 
of a tree or from the fence or other convenient roosting places. 

For a change Goober Jack would sometimes loiter among the 
shadows round the old-time kitchens in the back yards of the 
plantation homes, biding his time, when the cook should be going 
from the isolated kitchen to the dining room in the "big house," 
when he would make a sudden raid, lift out of the pot a cooked 
fowl, a ham or a pone of bread, and fly to the swamp with the 
speed of a fox. 

Goober Jack's wardrobe was easily replenished from the farm 
house clothes line or the garden fence of the washerwoman in the 
same manner that he recruited his larder. For headgear Jack 
always wore a cap- made from a coonskin, with the tail of the 
coon which had furnished the hide hanging out from the top of 
his cone-shaped cap. As for shoes, he cared as little about that 
article of clothing as did the Indians who roamed through the 
territory in considerable bands. 

Jack had an uncontrollable desire to roam at will and his 
master, the late Col. John T. Sloan, had become convinced that 
whipping neither kept Goober Jack at work nor sent him to the 
woods. He simply followed the bent of inclination. Just as 
the peculiar spirit moved him. Jack would come in and go to 
work, or he would leave the field and go to the woods. He 
seemed to obey only the alternate calls of a dual instinct, one 



92 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

turn of which was a call to the haunts of men, the other to the 
haunts of the beasts. And no one, not even Goober Jack him- 
self, could tell with any degree of certainty whether he would be 
at work on his master's plantation the next week, or in the 
woods roaming from one plantation negro quarter to another at 
night, and many roguish and cunning darkies at that time made 
many expeditions of theft, which were credited to the account 
of Goober Jack. 

All the children, both black and white, living within the lim- 
its of old Goober Jack's range and having a knowledge of his 
reputation, dreaded his appearance, as they might have dreaded 
some veritable black demon, although he never was known to do 
bodily harm to anyone. 

When the children in charge of the '^black mammy" became 
disobedient or unruly, all that was necessary to be done was to 
whisper into the child's ear : "Ef yo chillun don' be good, I'll 
tell ole Goober Jack whar yer sleeps to-night." Upon this warn- 
ing the unruly chap never failed to line up and pay due respect 
to the commands of "black mammy," as every child dreaded a 
call from Goober Jack more than anything which could be threat- 
ened. 

On one occasion Goober Jack having become so unruly and 
unreliable as a hand on the plantation, his owner concluded to 
sell him to a negro trader to be sent West, following the cus- 
tom, of those days to sell to these deporting traders all slaves 
who had become unmanageable, such negroes being carried away 
to the big plantations of the Mississippi country. 

Goober Jack was accordingly sold and delivered to the negro 
trader at Pendleton Hotel, where the slave was chained and 
locked up for the night in a back room for safe keeping. During 
the night Goober Jack picked the chain lock and the door lock 
as well, and making his way to the saloon of the hotel, helped 
himself to the fine drinks and cigars to be found there. And 
when morning came, to the amazement of everyone. Goober Jack, 
feeling gloriously mellow from his night among the decanters, 
was strutting back and forth along the front corridor of the hotel, 
with a big cigar in his mouth, taking the ease of a gentleman 
who might have been owner of a fine plantation and fifty negroes. 

However, without further trouble, Goober Jack agreed to go 
West, and he walked at will along with the trader's wagon, un- 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 93 

til he reached Mississippi, where he was sold. But about a week 
before the negro trader reached home again, Goober JacJ^ was 
seen in the neighborhood of Pendleton. And he was soon at his 
old tricks once more, which he enjoyed as much as any common 
freedman of to-day enjoys the fulness of his liberty. In fact, 
Goober Jack was an interesting subject of conversation through- 
out the country, and was regarded as a huge joke at the expense 
of his owner, who, however, felt a degree of pride in the normal 
ownership of the most noted slave character in the Piedmont sec- 
tion of the State. 

Some months after Goober Jack^s return from his expedition 
to the Mississippi country some boys were fishing on the river 
at a point where Eavenel's bridge now stands, when one of the 
boys discovered some chicken feathers hanging on the briers and 
canes near the west bank of the river just above the spot which 
was used as a flat landing at that time. This discovery excited 
the curiosity of the boys, and immediately they slipped out of 
their clothes and waded into the stream to make an investiga- 
tion. They took a back trail of feathers that were lodged among 
the shrubbery along the bank, thinking to locate what they be- 
lieved to be the den of some big mink, where all the missing 
chicks of the neighborhood had gone to satisfy the appetites of 
Mr. Mink and his family. Some distance up stream, at a large 
canebrake, where the canes were leaning unusually low over the 
bank, the boys discovered a large hole which had been tunnelled 
into the ground at a right angle with the river. The boys now 
grew enthusiastic, believing they had discovered the home of a 
mammoth mink or coon family. The abundance of feathers 
strewn along the bank of the river and near the mouth of the 
den indicated that Mother Mink or Mrs. Coon had very recently 
gone through with a house cleaning operation which supplied 
the feathers for the trail that had led to the discovery of the 
den. One of the, boys was dispatched to the house of an over- 
seer living not far away, and he soon returned with men, dogs, 
guns and tools with which to make an effectual attack upon 
the varmints which had been making such heavy raids upon their 
hen roosts. But no sooner had the men begun cleaning off the 
bank, preparatory to digging into the hole, than they became 
amazed at finding an old plank window shutter ingeniously con- 
structed into a suitable cap for a ventilator shaft into the den 



94 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

below. This shutter had a number of auger holes bored in it, 
into which were twined a few pieces of la^^rel and cane twigs, 
the whole having been covered over with leaves in such a way 
as completely to hide the existence of the shaft. On the re- 
moval of this shutter Goober Jack's last hiding place was re- 
vealed, and out came the old runaway, like some huge varmint 
in reality, to make a hasty compromise to go to work again for 
another period. 

The discovery of this den cleared up the mystery of how Goober 
Jack had frequently lost the dogs which had peen put upon his 
trail at the river bank above. This usually occurred at the 
point where the railroad bridge now spans the stream. Jack would 
enter the water here and wade down stream to his den, thus 
destroying all scent of his trail. On some occasions Goober 
Jack succeeded in dodging the best-trained blood hounds of the 
country by floating down the river on a log or leaping upon the 
back of a work ox or an unbridled horse found grazing on the 
meadow and riding out of range of the hounds, turning the ani- 
mal loose when he had no further use for him. 

Perhaps the most ingenious ruse he ever put into practice was 
on an occasion when he was being hard pressed by a pair of the 
truest dogs in the whole country. Approaching the road just 
as an old-time closed coach, with a footman's or trunk seat be- 
hind, was passing, he kept himself concealed behind a tree until 
assured he could not be seen by the occupants of the coach, when 
he crouched low and ran forward to the rear of the vehicle, 
climbed upon this rear seat and lay there quietly concealed. 
After riding about two miles out of range of the hounds he 
leaped from the coach again and made his way into the depths 
of the wild woods, back to his haunts, as free and about as 
happy as any denizen of the wilderness. 

If there was one of Goober Jack's feats of ingeniousness more 
wonderful than the last, it was that to which he resorted at a 
rock quarry on Seneca Eiver a little way above the present site 
of the Blue Eidge Railroad bridge, on the south side of the 
river near the old Treaty Oak on the Cherry farm, which marks 
the spot where Gen. Pickens made the treaty with the Indians. 

The rock quarry referred to was walled in by a bluff, and the 
river formed a natural stockade which became useful as a sort 
of corral in which all the bad negroes of the country could be 



Fendleton Farmers' Society. 95 

guarded and made to work in the quarries by day, while afford- 
ing a means of preventing their escape at night. Goober Jack 
was among this gang, and while there he received one of his 
roaming irresistible calls. Not being able to swim or to pass 
the watcliman on the land side. Goober Jack turned a wash pot 
over his head and deliberately entered the stream, literally walk- 
ing across the bottom of the channel with ten feet of water 
above him, the imprisoned air in the inverted pot supplying 1he 
necessary oxygen to his lungs while, making this peril o^"'.s ar^d 
daring passage. Landing safely on the opposite side. Goober 
Jack gave one of his peculiar blood-curdling, wild, panther-like 
screams, thus bidding farewell to the command of his masters 
and plunged into the canebrake with the utter familiarity of 
some wild thing of the woodland. 

As a "leader" of songs at the old-time com shuckings old 
Goober Jack was the king of them all. Goober Jack could as- 
semble more men under his leadership to sing at contests by 
dividing the corn pile than any other darky. 

Goober Jack kept a very peculiar cow horn to blow for his 
dogs that had a ringing, shrill sound, tliat reverberated over 
the hills and vales of the Piedmont region and could be distin- 
guished from all other horns, and was heard many miles beyond, 
where the sound of ordinary dog horns died away. 

About dusk in the evening of som.e big "corn shucking" Goober 
Jack would mount upon the top of a tree on the highest hill in 
the vicinity, blowing his horn to the notes that told all the ne- 
gro men in the range of many miles that a corn shucking and 
feast were in store at a nearby plantation. Almost every negro 
quarter within the sound of Goober Jack's horn would be de- 
serted by the men at once to rally around old Goober Jack and 
march for miles to the plantation where the "husking bee" was 
on, singing corn songs that echoed over the hills as they ap- 
proached the corn pile. 

These old-time corn piles were usually piled in long ridge-like 
shape on the hard ground in the open near the corn cribs, and 
contained anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand 
bushels. 

The younger generation of South Carolinians that never saw 
a real corn shucking of ye olden times, in ante-bellum days, has 
missed one of the most enjoyable annual festivities in our State's 
history. 



96 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

About the time when it appeared that the bulk of the negroes 
had arrived from the nearby plantation the "boss" or foreman of 
the plantation proceeded to "divide the pile" of com by placing 
a fence rail across the middle and allowing the two "leaders of 
the gangs" to choose their men for winning the Jug of whisky or 
fat turkey that was to go to the gang that cleaned up their pile 
of corn first. 

Now, the real hard work and tussle to a finish was on in ear- 
nest ; such fun and high singing has never been witnessed since. 

Old Goober Jack and his opponent each mounted and paced 
the top of the ridge of their respective half of the corn pile, 
leading the favorite festive corn songs, Avhich was answered with 
a loud, strong chorus from every hand around the corn pile, and 
nerving every hand to do his best, tearing away the shucks from 
the ears like madmen fighting to win or die. 

The antics of old Goober Jack while pacing the top of the corn 
pile amid the flying ears of clean com as they passed or hit him, 
was like nature's own opera house. The leaders of these corn 
songs would mimic the cock's crow, the hooting owl, the bellow- 
ing of a bull, the whip-poor-will, the mocking bird or the killdee. 
When mocking the killdee Goober Jack would place a large corn 
shuck about his hip pocket for a tail of the killdee that he planted 
while he pranced up and down the corn pile bowing and swing- 
ing his body in imitation that would shame the killdee, calling 
out: 

"Never see a killdee but what he was in the motion.'* 
Chorus by all hands: 

"Oh, round de corn, Sally," etc. 

Another favorite song, or chant, was like this : 

"De little bee suck de blossom, 

De big bee make de honey. 

De nigger make de cotton, 

And de white folks tote de money." 

The chorus, by all hands, being : 

"Gin corn, nigsfer. 

Gin corn, I tell yer." 

After finishing shucking the corn, then comes the "round up," 
"carrying the boss" on the shoulders of several big negroes, 
marching all around and through "the big house," setting the boss 



Pendleton Fanners' Society. 97 

in his chair at the head of the long table, loaded down with 
roasted whole pigs, fowls, stacks of sweet potatoes and pumpkin 
pies, "knee high to a nigger." 

After all had feasted then came in the old-time nigger fiddlers 
and then came dancing by some of the select young men and 
women, which wound up the festivities in time for all hands to 
get back home "by the crack of day in the morning." 



CHAPTEK XVI. 



THE BLACK GHOST OF THE EOCKY BEANCH OE THE 
SLAVE-TIME POSSUM HUNTEE. 

BY J. C. STEIBLING. 

Among the foothills, vales and spurs of the Blue Eidge Moun- 
tains, better known as the "Piedmont Eegion/' is to be found 
the greatest variety of natural food for the opossum, raccoon, 
rabbit and squirrel. In the dense forests that cover the rivulets 
of the deep ravines with arching boughs or shelter the banks 
of the larger streams, and along the hedgerows of the cultivated 
fields, abound the wild summer grapes, the crab apple, the win- 
ter grape that hangs upon the vine until far into the spring, the 
luscious muscadine, the cherry, the summer and winter huckle- 
berry, persimmon, gooseberry and dogwood berry, together with 
the toothsome paw-paw and the large variety of wild nuts. And 
all of this makes the Piedmont Eegion the natural paradise of 
the nocturnal huntsman. The fat and greasy opossum is the 
prime object of the night-time hunter who begins in early au- 
tumn to lay in his supply of resinous pine pieces for making 
the necessary torch lights when the hunting time came, an abund- 
ant supply being ever near at hand. And when "de fros' ripen 
de possum^' in October the huncing season begins and it ends 
not until the coming of the whip-poor-will in March. 

The negro population of the Piedmont Section, during the 
slave days was almost, if not quite, equal in numbers to the 
whites ; and with these blacks owned in small numbers, as a rule, 
throughout the section, the slaves were brought into closer per- 
sonal contact with the whites their owners, and in consequence 
received better attention and care and gained a higher form of 
civilization than their less fortunate, half-barbaric brethren of 
the large rice plantation of the low country. Still, most of these 
old slave-time darkeys still cling to their native beliefs and 
superstitions, among them being the fear of ghosts, the power 
of the graveyard rabbit's foot, the cat of nine lives and many 
other hoodoo practices. But, notwithstanding these fears, the 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 101 

darkeys preferred hunting, and traveling about the country at 
night rather than in daytime; and no sportsman of the turf or 
the pavilion enjoys his sport more than did these "possum and 
coon hunters" in their primitive way. And indeed, the "pos- 
sum hunt" meant to them not only sport but profit, for the 
luxury of a feast "possum an' 'tater" was something to be 
looked forward to with the keenest relish; and not the greatest 
"chef" of the land could excel the "ol' black mannny'' in the 
preparation of such a luxurious feast. The simplicity of the 
feast, served in the log cabin by the old black woman in her 
clean straight frock of homespun, and with a spotless white 
handkerchief tied about her head, bore a charm that whetted 
the most languid appetite to a pitch of gluttonous inclination. 

The possum hunt is nature's sport by nature's man, with na- 
ture's means and in nature's way ; and no turfman ever bestowed 
more care or kindness upon the most valuable racer of his stable 
than did these old-time darkeys upon their hunting dogs. And 
there is always one dog in the pack that leads the chase, another 
of the cold nose (one especially enabled to scent a cold trail) . 
another that can whip any raccoon or strong dog, and still 
another that never fails to "tell the truth at the tree," which 
means that where he bays at the root of a tree, the game is sure 
to be among the branches. 

And this brings us to our story. One corn shucking season 
in the later days of the old slave time, the report was spread 
among the negroes throughout the neighborhood that a "great 
black ghost" had been met on several occasions by the huntsmen 
who visited the "Eocky Branch" section; and various were the 
descriptions of the big black ghost, some declaring that the crea- 
ture had stood erect like a man, with long shaggy hair covering 
its body, and with a pair of great gleaming eyes that shone like 
balls of liquid fire in the darkness. Others who had come in 
contact with the mysterious thing avowed that it resembled 
a tremendous black bear with horns on its head and other mon- 
strous protuberances from its body; while "Old Eance," who 
prided himself upon his daring, and sniffed at the fear which 
he declared belonged only to "dem common buckra niggers w^at 
ain' been raised 'mongs' 'telligent whi'-ifolk an' b'lebe' 'en 
ghos's an' sich like" and who was considered the greatest noc- 
turnal huntsman of them all, declared : 



102 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

"Dat ghos', 'e des beat all dem animile yo eber see. Wen 
yer fust see 'im^ 'e stan' up on 'e two bin' laig des like a man, 
an' 'e hab horn on de back o' 'e haid, an' long whiskers on 'e 
chin des like de buckra man; an' fo' yer can see how 'e do it, 
'e done turn to de bar and des come down on de groun' 'whop' 
wid all 'e fo' feet — den, boss, fo' de Lawd, yo neber see dog run 
so seence yer been bo'n. Eber dog tuck 'e tail 'twix' 'e laig an' 
come tearin' roun' bin' me for 'tection. Now, Boss, it ain' nut- 
tin oncommon for dese yere puppies to run f'om common t'ings; 
but w'een ole Eock an' Troup an' Blaze all pull out an' come 
tearin' pas' me, dis nigger 'eluded dar was some'n dang'ous ober 
dar, so I des say to me foot, 'carry de body out o' dese woods;' 
an' sho nuf, des as 'um sta't off good, de torch done blow smack 
out — an' dis nigger done run ober eb'ry saplin'-log, an' rock in 
dem woods fo' 'e git home an' de nex' mawnin' 'um had fever 
in de haid, whilst dese ole laig so stiff, dis nigger ain' scursely 
walk dese fo' days." 

Thinking that perhaps a real bear had strayed down from the 
mountains, we made arrangements with Old Uncle Henry, one 
of the bravest of the colored possum hunters to take some of 
the boys with him on his next hunt in the haunted region, in 
order that he might keep guard over the ghost, should he find 
it, while he dispatched a messenger home for me. And accord- 
ingly, only a few nights had passed when I was aroused from 
sleep by loud calling at my door: 

"Boss ! Boss ! do come, git yo double barrel gun and f otch ole 
Bull, I'se got de ole black ghos' treed in de big yellow poplar 
ober on de Eock Branch." 

In a short while, my friend "Joe," from the city, and I, to- 
gether with old "Bull," the large yard dog, were on the way to- 
ward the Eock Branch to engage in what we supposed would be 
a bear fight. Our guns were well charged, and old Bull, who 
had the reputation of being the king of all the beasts on the 
plantation on account of his having, on one occasion, brought 
down a vicious bull at the bidding of his master, was frisky and 
eager for the fray. 

On reaching the top of a high hill about a mile from home, 
old Henry called a momentary halt. 

"Dar!" he exclaimed, "Boss, des lis'n at dat fine music!" 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 103 

From far away in the distance came the howl of the dogs, 
deep-Yoiced and ringing clearly on the night air. My friend 
Joe listened a moment, then in a tone of disgust, remarked: 

"Well, I can't hear any music or anything else for the howling 
of those darned dogs." 

Old Henry looked up with a look of mingled surprise and re- 
sentment on his face. "Dat's it. Boss, dat am de fines' music 
eber yo hear. Des lis'n to old Troup, 'e soun' de bass, an' Marsh 
de counter, Sam de tenor, whilst Venus carry de tribble high as 
de moon." 

Then he gave one loud whoop which rang away among, the 
hills and vales for miles, stimulating the entire pack of hunt- 
ing dogs to renewed vigor in baying the game still far over the 
hills. 

We now pushed forward until we reached a deep, boggy ravine 
which we were to cross by "cooning" a fallen tree trunk. ( Coon- 
ing was the act of crawling on all-fours along the fallen tree.) 
Joe imdertook to walk it upright, but when about midway, old 
Bull, who in his eagerness for the fray, had broken away from 
Henry, came rushing between Joe's legs, upsetting him and 
sending him head foremost into the bog below. 

Uncle Henry, who by this time had come to regard Joe as be- 
ing a little "off," on account of his want of appreciation for 
fine possum hound music, rather reluctantly began to assist in 
removing the mud from Joe's eyes and mouth, as the latter 
came up from the bog. While thus engaged, Joe's false teeth 
accidently came out of his mouth and fell at old Henry's feet. 
The latter stood back aghast at this frightful state of affairs. 
And in his deep distress he exclaimed : 

"Boss, bettah sen' for Doctor quick. Dis yere mon mout' 
done broke all to pieces, 'e jaw bone an' teet' done drop out 
on de groun'." 

On receiving the information that these teeth were not natural 
but made by hand, the old darkey muttered half to himself: 

"Dese yere city buckra am de curiousest human 'um eber see, 
walkin' 'bout yere live wid 'e mout' full ob home-made teet," 

Without further hindrance we soon reached the haunted spot 
to find the pack of dogs keeping up an incessant, deafening 
noise, baying and springing into the den, only to come out fas- 
ter than they went in, snapping and growling as they went 



104 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

and yelping and snarling as tliey came. High up a tree 
near by were two negro boys who all the while had been encour- 
aging the dogs to keep up the baying while Henry had gone for 
help. A little persuasion brought the boys down to assist; and 
one of them held the large torch light, the other held the end 
of old Bull's chain, and Henry held his collar, the powerful dog 
being now almost unmanageable, surging here and there and 
standing erect on his hind feet showing his full length to be as 
tall almost as old Henry himself, and evincing a ferocity equal 
to that of any ghost or bear as the case might prove. 

After placing Joe a little above the tree on the opposite side 
of the ravine, I was about ready to station myself just below and 
a little to the right of him; when, suddenly, old Bull, having 
dragged his keeper a little too uncomfortably near the big open- 
ing in the poplar tree, was released; and Henry snatched the 
torch from the other boy's hand. 

At this juncture, I must confess, a case of genuine "Buck 
Ague" began to creep over me. Buck ague, as known among 
huntsmen, is that feeling that presses on just before the game 
advances within gun shot. At the same moment, old Ball, with 
all the hounds close behind him, plunged into the den, and such 
a melee followed as was sufficient to raise the hair on end. 
There were the sounds of baying and yelping, snarling and snap- 
ping of sharp teeth, the rattling of a chain and the confusion 
of a most ferocious encounter inside of the hollow tree; and 
above the din arose a thrilling squall strangely human and yet 
animal that pierced our ears with its agonized shrillness — and 
out of the opening came a confusion of yelling dogs, old Bull, 
the big white dog — and some tremendous black object, all 
clinched in such close quarters that it was impossible to get any 
idea of the true form of the game, ghost or animal. Over and 
over, and down the hill all rolled togethei-. in the meantime up- 
setting old Henry and extinguishing the torch, leaving all in 
utter darkness. And at the exciting moment when the torch 
went out, the loud report of a gun rang out on my right. 

When the light was renewed, the scene which presented itseli 
to our view was ludicrous in the extreme. Down in the bed of 
the ravine below, old Bull was standing over the dead body of 
a huge black billy goat. Hard by lay one of old Henry's best 
dogs killed by a misdirected shot from Joe's gun. Perched 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 105 

high in the bending tops of two slim saplings, with their heels 
higher than their heads, the two negro boys were clinging, lizard 
fashion, to the branches, with their big eyes glaring down upon 
the confusion below. But the most ludicrous situation of all 
was that of old Henry himself who, with arms clasped round 
the trunk of a tree, and with legs locked below only a few 
inches from the ground, was holding on for dear life as though 
forty feet from the ground and out of all danger of the Black 
Ghost. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



CUEEENT NEWS NOTES DUEING THE EAELIER 
DAYS OF THE SOCIETY. 

NOTICE. 

The undersigned Commissioners appointed last session of the 
Legislature, to aid and assist the State Engineer, are now ready 
to accept proposals, or contract for the erecting of a brick Gaol 
in tlie village of Pendleton : and will continue to accept them 
until May, next. Persons wishing to contract will apply at Mr. 
Samuel Cherr/s store, where the elevation plans and specifica- 
tions will be exhibited for inspection, and where all proposals 
will be received sealed. It will be essentially necessary where 
proposals are forwarded that the securities be named in the let- 
ter. 

Samuel Cherr}^, 
Francis Burt, 
Elam Sharpe, 

Commissioners. 
March 24, 1819. 

Pendleton Messenger, Wednesday, April 7, 1819. 



The African Slaves, sixty-three in number, seized by the 
United States, sold at Milledgeville (Georgia )on the 17th inst, 
for forty-one thousand seven hundred and ten dollars cash: the 
highest went oif at $890, the lowest, except one at $380— $662 
round. 

(Pendleton Messenger, Wednesday, September 9, 1818). 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 109 

A SUCCESSFUL WOLF HUNT. 

The farmers of this place have for several years past been very 
much troubled by wolves, destroying their sheep, which have 
been seen several times but which could never be taken. 

On the night of Monday the 2d inst., they killed three sheep 
belonging to James C. Griffin, Esq. The next day he collected 
five or six of his| neighbors, and after dinner they surrounded 
the thicket where the wolves had been heard howling before day- 
light near where the sheep were killed — they soon started a large 
he-wolf which after running around the thicket several times 
attempted to pass where Mr. Griffin was standing, who shot him 
— he ran a little distance back into the thicket and after a little 
resistance was killed by the dogs. The party then returned to 
the village, but having observed tracks of different size, decided 
they would search the same woods again; in a short time they 
started a large she-wolf, who ran around the thicket familiar to 
the former and was killed by Mr. Jno. Miller, Jr., within 150 
yards of the same place — ^both within a mile of the court 
house. To those acquainted with the ways of the wolf, the cir- 
cumstances attending this affair are very singular, and a similar 
occurrence is not remembered by the oldest hunters. 

Pendleton Messenger, June 10, 1818. 



110 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 



PENDLETON FAEMEES' SOCIETY. 

Eesolved that the resolution offering the following premiums 
at the Eegular Meeting of the Pendleton Farmers' Society, in 
September next, be published: 

For the best calf, bull or heifer, raised in this district. Ten 
dollars. 

For the best Earn Lamb raised in this district. Five dollars. 

For the best piece of cotton cloth, not less than twenty yards 
manufactured in the district. Ten dollars. 

For the best piece of woolen cloth, not less than ten yards, 
(all wool). Ten dollars. 

Eesolved that the candidates for the calves and sheep, to be 
awarded at the next meeting of the Society, must exhibit a satis- 
factory certificate of their age, to the examining committee, and 
that the certificate of a member shall be sufficient. 

On motion ordered that the above resolution be published in 
the MESSENC4ER, together with the resolution offering the pre- 
miums passed last September. 

E. Anderson, 

Secretary. 

August 13, 1818. 

Pendleton Messenger, Wednesday, September 2, 1818. 



EAN AWAY. 
From the subscriber on the 1st inst., Walter Adair an ap- 
prentice to the shoemaker trade. He is about nineteen years 
of age, about five foot and six inches high and of a swarthy com- 
plexion. 

All persons are warned against harboring or employing him as 
the utmost rigor of the law will be enforced against any person 
who may do so. 

Six cents will be paid for delivering the said Walter Adair to 
me, or for lodging him in the gaol at Pendleton, but no expenses 
paid. 

Thomas Eichards. 
August 3, 1818. 

Pendleton Messenger, August 5, 1818. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. Ill 



PEOPHECY. 

In anecdotes of the life of Bishop Watson, lately published, 
we meet with the following prediction made by the bishop in 
1804: 

The death of a single prince in any part of Europe, remarkable 
either for wisdom or folly, renders political conjectures of fu- 
ture contingencies so extremely uncertain, that I seldom indulged 
myself in forming them : yet it seems to me that it is proba- 
ble that Europe will soon be divided between three powers, 
France, Austria, and Eussia, and in half a century between 
two, France and Eussia : and that America will become the great- 
est naval power on the globe and will be replenished by migra- 
tions of oppressed and discontented people from every part of 
Europe. 

Pendleton Messenger, Wednesday, August 26, 1818. 



NOTICE. 



The employment of an agent or attorney is not necessary in 
any claim against the Government. It is most generally at- 
tended with expense and sometime with actual loss. 

Claims will be promptly settled when the accounts and vouch- 
ers with which they are connected are transmitted to the proper 
oflfice. 

Money will be transmitted whenever a receipt for the sum 
due or, where the amount is not ascertained a receipt in blank 
shall be forwarded to the Treasury Department. 

Military patents and certificates of military pensions will be 
transmitted in the same manner, whenever the necessary vouch- 
ers are forwarded to the proper office. 

John Quincy Adams. 
Wm. H. Crawford. 
J. C. Calhoun. 
B. W. Crowninshield. 
Washington City, May 27, 1818. 

Pendleton Messenger, June 24, 1818. 



113 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

At the Anniversary Meeting of the Pendleton Farmers' So- 
ciety, the following gentlemen were elected officers for the fol- 
lowing year: 

J as. L. North, Esq., President. 

Jas. C. Griffin, Esq., Vice-President. 

Col. Robert Anderson, Secretary and Treasurer. 

John T. Lewis, Corresponding Secretary. 

Pendleton Gazette, June 17, 1818. 



At a stated meeting of the Pendleton Farmers' Society, held 
at the Pendleton Court House, on the 14th inst., the following 
resolutions were adopted: 

On motion, Eesolved that notice be given in the Pendleton 
Messenger, that the second Thursday of June next, will be the 
anniversary of the Pendleton Farmers' Society, and that general 
attendance of members are requested on that occasion. 

On motion, Eesolved that a committee be appointed to request 
Mr. Thomas Lorton to provide a dinner for the members of 
the Pendleton Farmers' Society, on the day of their next anni- 
versary, and that all the members intending to join in the din- 
ner, be requested to leave their name with Mr. Lorton, on or 
before the anniversary. 

R. Anderson, Secy. 

Pendleton Messenger, June 15, 1818. 



PENDLETON FARMERS' SOCIETY. 

From Pendleton Messenger, October 20, 1843. 

The Farmers' Society of Pendleton met as usual on their 
anniversary the second Thursday in October. Various business 
was transacted, and officers elected for ensuing year. Agreeably 
to previous request, an address was made by Mr. Ruflfin, of Vir- 
ginia, which, on motion was ordered to be published in the Pen- 
dleton Messenger. A public dinner having been prepared, the 
Society dined together in Mr. Cherry's long room. The purely 
agricultural toasts below were given on the occasion. Mr. Sea- 
brook after the toast of the committee was received, replied in 
a few appropriate and handsomely expressed remarks. 

We regret exceedingly, that a complimentary toast to Mr. 
Ruffin, and his toast to South Carolina, in reply, being furnished 
us on a small slip of paper, have been accidentally mislaid. Pos- 
sibly some others that were given have shared their fate. 

Some of the reports made to the Society, the award of pre- 
miums &c., will probably appear in our next. Mr. Ruffin's ad- 
dress appears to-day. 

TOASTS. 

The President being called on for a toast said, I propose gen- 
tlemen the memory of a distinguished agriculturalists, who has 
fallen since our last anniversary meeting, the Hon. James M. 
Garnett. 

By the committee — Our Guest: the Hon. WHiitemarsh B. 
Seabrook, President of the Agricultural Society of South Caro- 
lina, devoted to the improvement of the whole State. We wel- 
come him among the farmers of the up country. 

By Hon. W. B. Seabrook — The Cause of Agriculture through- 
out the world, and succeess to those who by precept or example 
sustain it. 



114 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

By Hon. John C. Calhoun — Agriculture : The most important, 
but the most oppressed branch of industry. 

By C. C. Pinckney — The Pursuit of Agriculture: The most 
useful, the most honorable, the most ennobling of all human 
pursuits; adapted to every class in every clime. 

By Dr. F. W. Symmes — Pendleton Agriculture: To be im- 
proved and made profitable only by economy and manure. 

By F. Burt, Esq.— The Agricultural Survey of the State: The 
first recognition of the farming interest by our Legislative au- 
thorities. 

By Hon. E. F. Simpson — South Carolina: If behind her 
sisters in anything it is in Agriculture. Present exertions, 
would seem to indicate that she will not be long behind even 
in that. 

By Col. E. Harleston — The Farmers of Pendleton: They 
have now had it demonstrated to them the resources of the dis- 
trict, may they use them with zeal and energy. 

By T. Q. Clemson — In the absence of Marl, permit me to pro- 
pose to the citizens of Pendleton, a more familiar acquaintance 
with the effects of the application of those soils which contain 
Potash, Soda, and Magnesia. 

By Capt. John Maxwell — The man who made 12B of wheat 
per acre on poor mountain land, and 30 gallons of corn stalk 
syrup to the acre. 

By Dr. 0. E. Broyles — Dry land ditching, and a judicious ro- 
tation of crops, the first and the most important by far in the 
practice of Agriculture, and yet they are almost entirely neg- 
lected in this district. 

By Eev. A. Fuller — The Agricultural Interest : One which is 
identical in every part of the Union. 

By B. F. Sloan — The Agricultural Interest: The only great 
interest that has neither asked nor received the protection of 
the general Government. 

By A. H. Seabrook — Commerce, Manufactures, and Agri- 
culture; but the greatest of these is Agriculture. 

By J. 0. Lewis — Marl: May it add as much energy to the 
men as it has fertility, to the soil of South Carolina. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 115 

Mr. E. B. Benson is appointed Secretary and Treasurer, and 
W. H. D. Gaillard, Corresponding Secretary, of the Pendleton 
Farmers' Society; to supply the vacancies occasioned by the 
much lamented death of our late Secretary and Treasurer, and 
also. Corresponding Secretary, J. W. Warley, until our next 
regular meeting, which will be on the first Thursday in April; 
when an election will take place to fill those vacancies, 

Geo. Seaborn", President. 

December 16, 1843. 



The Society will award the following premiums at their Hall 
in the village of Pendleton on Friday, October 13, 1843 : 

For the best two acres of corn grown in the district on 
upland, provided the produce exceeds fifty bushels per 
acre $10.00 

For the best two acres of corn grown in the district on 
low ground, provided it be not less than seventy-five 
bushels per acre $10.00 

For the largest produce of wheat grown in the district, 
on two acres, provided the amount per acre is not less 
than twenty bushels $10.00 

The land on which the above crops are grown to be laid 
off in a square, or oblong form whose sides are not to 
exceed their length more than double. 

For the best quarter of an acre of millet $ 3.00 

For the largest produce of provender of good quality, 
from one acre, provided the amount to be not less 
than 3 tons well cured $10.00 

For the largest quantity of rough rice grown in the dis- 
trict on one acre, to be of good quality and not less 
than fifty bushels $10.00 

For the best specimen of corn stalk sugar not less than 

ten pounds $10.00 

For the specimen of molasses, not less than five gallons . $ 5.00 

For the best pound of sewing silk, made in the district. $ 3.00 

For the best pair of silk half-hose $ 1.00 



116 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

For the best bull calf of an improved breed under two 
years old $ 5.00 

For the best boar of an improved breed, under 12 months 
old $ 5.00 

For the best ram of an improved breed $ 5.00 

For the best sow of an improved breed, under twelve 
months old $ 5.00 

For the best ewe of an improved breed $ 5.00 

The stock to be owned in the district. 

J. W. Warley, Secretary P. F. S. 

Pendleton, January 20, 1843. 

COMMITTEES FOR 1843. 

Committee on Grain — T. M. Sloan, John Maxwell, Paul Ham- 
ilton. 

Committee on Provender—J. V. Shanklin, B. F. Sloan, J. 
0. Lewis. 

Committee on Corn-stalk Sugar and Molasses — J. S. Lor- 
ton, T. R. Cherry, A. C. Pickens. 

Committee on Silk — D. S. Taylor, A. H. Seabrook, F. Burt. 

Committee on Cattle^ — E. F. Simpson, Wm. Sloan, A. F. 
Lewis. 

Committee on Hogs and Sheep — Geo. Seaborn, J. T. Sloan, 
0. E. Broyles. 

On Discretionary Premiums — T. J. Pickens, Wm. Steele, 
Colin Campbell. 

Committee to prepare Premiums for 1844 — -Jas. Stuart, E. 
Harleston, E. A. Maxwell. 

Committee on Sales at Auction— J. W. Warley, W. L. Jenkins. 
Alfred Fuller. 

Committee to provide dinner on ensuing anniversary — ^W. 
H. D. Gaillard, A. S. Gibbes, E. B. Benson. 

J. W. Warley, Secretary P. F. S. 
September 1, 1843. 



LET THE BOYS HAVE FUN. 

The Labor School referred to below was organized and in 
working order about the year 1825, and was perhaps the first 
attempt at an Agricultural College in this country. 

Editors Sun. : We often, of a winters night take our pipe 
and think over some of the pranks and fun of boyhood days, 
and laugh to think of them. Seventy-five of the worst boys in 
South Carolina were sent to a manual labor school. Eev. J. L. 
Kennedy was the principal ; noted for his great ability to man- 
age and educate bad boys. At the sound of the trumpet every 
morning at daylight these bad boys assembled in the recitation 
room for prayers. They would shoot pop-corn at each other, 
and carry on mischief in such a manner, that Mr. Kennedy had 
to pray with his eyes open to keep them quiet. We have tried 
to keep posted in. the history of those seventy-five bad boys, and 
as far as we know all succeeded in life, and many of them made 
eminent divines, lawyers, physicians, merchants, planters and 
politicians, with two exceptions — one did a mean trick at school, 
which followed him thr-ough life, and one made a drunken, mur- 
derous gambler. I know you like short articles, and will only 
give one among a thousand pranks played on each other: Some 
of the big boys were musicians, performed on violin, flute, 
banjo, &c. This school was located four miles from Pendleton, 
S. C, a town noted for its pretty girls. The big boys were in 
the habit of going on Saturday nights to town to serenade the 
girls and would not let the little boys go with them, so they 
concluded to play a trick on them in revenge. A creek ran 
across the road a mile from school leading to town. The big 
boys, dressed in linen clothes, had a nice time. While they 
were gone, the little boys procured shovels and buckets, dragged 
and toted black mud from the swamp, spread it nicely over 



118 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

the steep little hill running down to the creek, and stretching 
a well-rope tightly across it, awaited the result. As the sere- 
nading party returned late in the dark night, the little fellows 
raised a frightful yell and the big boys started to run and were 
tripped and piled up in a heap in the black mud. 

The prank showed energy and pluck. A boy who goes with 
his head down, moping about like a lousy calf, is not apt to rise 
in the world when a man. 

Written by the late John B. Benson. 

Hartwell Sun, May 23, 1877. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE 

CONSTITUTION 

AND 

BY-LAWS 

OF THE 

PENDLETON FAEMERS' SOCIETY, 
together with the 
Letters and Papers 

WHICH have been READ BEFORE THE SOCIETY, 

at its various meetings. 

Constitution of The Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

As Published in 1820. 

Art. 1. The Society shall be styled, The Pendleton Farmers' 
Society. 

Art. 2. The objects of the Society shall be the promotion 
and improvement of agriculture and rural affairs. Their atten- 
tion shall be confined to these objects. 

Art. 3. A President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treas- 
urer, and a Corresponding Secretary, shall be annually elected, 
by a majority of the members present, at the anniversary of 
the Society, the second Thursday of June in each year. The 
persons elected to continue in ofiice one year, and until a new 
election takes place. In case of vacancy by death, resignalion 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 121 

or otherwise, the same may be supplied by a new election, made 
at any stated meeting of the Society ; the person elected to serve 
the remainder of the year. 

Art. 4. At the meetings of the Society, the President shall 
exercise all the usual duties of that office. All motions shall 
be addressed to him, and on all questions he shall collect and 
declare the votes. He shall have power to call special mee!:ings, 
by giving public notice of six days. In his absence the Vice- 
President shall exercise the same powers. A quorum for busi- 
ness shall consist of the President or Vice-President, and at 
least four members. 

Art. 5. The Treasurer and Secretary shall keep the books 
and papers of the Society, and the accounts regularly dtatod. 
At the meeting previous to the anniversary, he shall produce his 
accounts fairly stated, books, and papers, and deliver them to 
his successor, on the anniversary, or to the order of the Society. 

Art. 6. The Corresponding Secretary shall have in charge 
all letters addressed to the Society, and answer the same under 
their direction, which letters and answers he shall keep regularly 
filed. 

Art. 7. The stated meetings of the Society shall be .in. the 
second Thursday of each month of each year. 

Art. 8. The members of the Society shall be distinguished 
into resident, honorary, and contributing members. 

Eesident members shall consist of persons residing within the 
district. All members of Agricultural Societies in other states 
and countries, with whom this society shall correspond, and all 
persons of this state and of other states and countries, who 
shall be elected for the purpose, shall be honorary members; 
and are hereby invited to assist at the meetings, whenever they 
come within the district. Strangers who desire to be present, 
as auditors, may be introduced by a resident member. 

Honorary contributing members, are of the description here- 
after mentioned. Every citizen contributing and paying into 



133 Pendleton Farmers' Society 

the hands of the Treasurer a sum not less than ten dollars, may 
be elected, agreeably to the rules, an honorary member, without 
regard to place of residence. Those who thus laudably enable 
the Society to extend its usefulness, and promote its objects, 
are invited to assist at its meetings. They will be styled hon- 
orary contributing members. 

Art. 9. New members, whether resident or honorary, sliall 
be elected by ballot, in their absence; application on their be- 
half shall be made to the Society at a stated meeting previous 
to their election. Three negatives shall be sufficient to reject 
a member proposed. 

Art. 10. For the purpose of defraying the necessary expences 
of the Society, for premiums and prizes, books on agriculture, 
improved instruments of farming and other important objects,, 
every member shall annually pay into the hands of the Treasurer, 
on the anniversary, the sum of one dollar and a half, at the 
close of which said meeting, the Treasurer elect shall lay be- 
fore the Society a list of the members, specifying who have and 
who have not paid their contributions. No part of the So- 
ciety's funds shall be disposed of except at a stated meeting, of 
which notice shall have been given at the stated meeting pre- 
vious. 

Art. 11. New rules or alterations shall be proposed, and the 
proposal entered on the minutes, at the stated meeting preceding 
the anniversary, and may then be made by not less than two 
thirds of the members present. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 123 



EuLES AND By-Laws for the Government of the 

Farmers' Society. 

As Published in 1820. 

Eule 1. At all meetings of the Society, the President shall 
take the chair, and call the members to order, at 11 o'clock. 

2. Every member wishing to move a resolution, shall reduce 
it to writing, and address the chair standing. No resolution 
is to be open for discussion until seconded, but the mover may 
state reasons for any preliminary observations, not touching the 
merits of his resolution, before it is seconded. 

3. No member shall be allowed to speak more than twice on 
any one subject, without permission of the Society. 

4. In all cases every member shall rise and address the chair 
uncovered ; the member first up shall have the precedence. The 
President shall confine the attention of the Society to the mem- 
ber speaking, and not suffer him to be interrupted in any man- 
ner whatever. 

5. In cases of more than ordinary interest, the Society may 
go into a committee of the whole, on the requisition of any five 
members; when the President shall nominate a chairman, who 
shall preserve the same order and decorum, and ca\ise the same 
rules of debate to be observed, with the exception of the third 
rule. 

6. The previous question may be moved and seconded at 
any state of the debate, in committee of the whole, and shall 
be in the following words: "Shall the main question be now 
put?" Should the committee decide in the affirmative, the 
main question shall be put immediately, without debate. 



134 Pendleton Fanners' Society. 

7. Whenever a resolution has been disposed of by a vote of 
the Society, it shall not be in order to move that, or a similar 
resolution during the meeting, without a vote of the Society to 
re-consider. 

8. Every member of the Society who shall violate any of 
these rules, or who shall not conduct himself with propriety and 
decorum, both of language and manner, shall be called to order 
by the President or Chairman, and if necessary, be directed to 
resume his seat. 

9. In cases of gross, scandalous, violent, ungentlemanly con- 
duct, the Society may expel a member. The resolution for 
this purpose, must be signed by two members, who will hand it 
silently to the President, who is bound not to disclose their 
names, and who is to request the member to withdraw. After 
debate, the member named shall be introduced, and informed by 
the President of the substance of the charges, and required 
to make his defence after he returns, either at the moment, or 
at the next stated meeting. When a vote is taken, it shall be 
by ballot, and it shall require two thirds of the meeting, which 
shall consist of at least one fourth of the resident members, to 
expel a member. 

10. All applications for admission to this Society, and all 
resignations, must be made in writing; and any resident mem- 
bers leaving the district, shall be entitled to continue honorary 
members. 

11. The resident officiating Ministers of the Gospel of this 
district, shall be entitled to be resident members of this Society, 
free of contribution. 

12. All members, and all persons who shall hereafter be- 
come members of this Society, shall sign the constitution and 
these rules. 

James C. Griffin, President. 
JosiAS D. Gaillard, Vice-President. 
Egbert Aistderson, Secretary & Treasurer. 
Joseph V. Shanklin, Corresponding Sec. 



HONORARY MEMBEPS 

Gen. Thomas Pinckney St. James Santee. 

Hon. William Lowndes Charleston. 

C. C. Pinckney, Jr Do. 

E. S. Izard, Esq Do. 

J. E. Pringle,~ Esq Do. 

Dr. J. Noble Do. 

Gen. D. E. Huger ' Do. 

Hon. J. C. Calhomi Washington City. 

Col. J. B. Ion St. James Santee. 

Col. L. J. Alston St. Stephens, Alabama. 

Eev. Dr. Waddell Athens, Georgia. 

Gen. John Blassingame Greenville. 

D. P. Hillhouse Washington, Georgia. 

Dr. Isaac Auld . Edisto Island. 

Dr. C. M. Eeese Philadelphia. 

RESIDENT MEMBERS. 

1815. 

Thomas Pinckney, Jr, Eobert Anderson^ 

John L. North, William Hunter, 

Andrew Pickens, Benjamin Du Pre, sen., 

Benjamin Smith, Joseph Grisham, 

John Miller, sen., L. M. Gregor, 

Charles Gaillard, Samuel Earle, 

John E. Calhoun, Eichard Harrison, 

J. T. Lewis, Patrick Norris, 

Thomas L. Dart, J. C. Kilpatrick, 

J. B. Earle, Joseph B. Earle, 

C. W. Miller, T. W. Farrar, 

Samuel Cherry, Thomas Stribling, 

John Taylor, John Green, 

James C. Griffin, Josias D. Gaillard, 
Joseph Van Shanklin. 



12C 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 



John Maxwell, 
B. F. Perry, 
William Hubbart, 
E. B. Benson, 
George Eeese, sen., 
George W. Liddell, 
J. B. Perry, 
John Martin, 
T. Farrar, 



William Steele, 
James Lawrence, 
Francis Burr, 
John Hunter, 
W. S. Adair, 
William Taylor, 
William Anderson, 
Joseph Mitchell, 



John Hall, 
David Cherry, 
John Gaillard, 



1816. 

W. E. Davis, 
William Gaston, 
Joseph Eeed, 
Elam Sharpe, 
D. Sloan, Jr. 
Samuel Warren, 
Leonard Simpson, 
Major Lewis, 
Samuel Taylor. 

1817. 

Thomas Lorton, 
Eev. James Hillhourse, 
Benjamin Dickson, 
Eichard Lewis, 
J. T. Whitefield, 
J. B. Hammond, 
John Holbert, 
Eobert Lemon. 

1818. 



Charles Story, 
M'Kenzie Collins, 
George Taylor, 
Theodore Gaillard. 



1819. 



Samuel Gassaway, 

E. A. Maxwell, 
J. P. Lewis, 

F. W. Symmes, 
George Eeese, Jr. 
Joseph Whitner, 



James Paris, 
William Oliver, 
James 0. Lewis, 
Thomas Sloan, 
Henry M'Crary, 
David K. Hamilton. 



Pendleton Farmers Society. 127 



Address to the Farmers^ Society. 

Permit me, gentlemen, briefly to call your attention to the 
objects of this institution; to present in a few words its vast 
importance to our country generally, and to this section of it 
in particular; and I know not how I can more plainly and for- 
cibly express myself, than by stating the situation of other sec- 
tions of our happy country, which formerly were in our present 
condition, but which are now advanced a century before us in 
agricultural knowledge. A learned and judicious farmer of 
our sister state of Pennsylvania, describes the state of agricul- 
ture after the conclusion of the former American war, as 
wretched in the extreme. Their lands were exhausted by a 
constant succession of grain crops, and then abandoned to weeds, 
as worthless, l^ew land was cleared, and the same miserable 
system pursued. Man and beast suffered alike, as the forage 
for the latter was supplied from the scanty crops of the farmer, 
or the poor animals fed on dry straw and the scanty pickings 
of the fields. Animal life was barely sustained through the 
winter, and that with difficulty. Does this sad picture present 
to your minds no home reflections? Does not a striking simi- 
larity of situation present itself? From this unfortunal:e state 
of daily struggle for support, they were relieved by a few intel- 
ligent men; who, united in a society for agricultural improve- 
ment, such as we now form, have, by their judgment, zeal, and 
agricultural knowledge, diffused so much instruction to the in- 
telligent farmer, as to convert his barren land into fertile soil, 
and to substitute the wine and oil of abundance, for the miseries 
of poverty and starvation. 

This happy change, however, was not effected in a day. They 
had to contend with the prejudices of ignorance, and the ob- 
stinate and blind perseverance in bad habits of those who pre- 
tended to agricultural skill. They pursued their career with 
unwearied step, undismayed by the difficulties which presented 
themselves, till they finally placed the agricultural interests of 
their country on a footing seldom equalled and not exceeded 
by any on this continent. 



138 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

Such, gentlemen, is the successful career of the Philadelphia 
Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, aided by similar 
societies in Pennsylvania. And who will not say that they 
merit the lasting gratitude of their country? We are accus- 
tomed to consider men of a different character as great and 
illustrious. The actions of Caesar and of Scipio; of Marlboro' 
and Eugene, or in latter times, of Bonaparte and Blucher, en- 
title them, in modern phrase, to be called great. But these 
men derived this title from their proficiency in destroying their 
fellow men. Their fame, like the pestiferous fumes of the 
charnel house, arises from the gore of mortals like themselves. 
It is steeped in blood, and is accompanied by the groans and 
shrieks of millions. Far different, and liow far preferable, is 
the character of the scientific and industrious agriculturist. He 
is the benefactor of his fellow men : his talents and his labors 
are devoted to the support and happiness of mankind. They 
make man intelligent and independent. They teach him to 
derive his wealth and respectability from the fruitful bosom 
which nature's God assigned us for this purpose : and his efforts, 
unlike those of the horrible traffickers in human blood, confer a 
lasting benefit, not only on his contemporaries, but on posterity. 

We may justly conclude then, that as war and warriors are 
the curses, peace and agriculture are the blessings of the world. 

In a national point of view, we have every inducement that 
can operate on a well organized mind, to stimulate our exer- 
tions. Living under the happiest and freest government in 
the civilized world; protected by mild laws, in the enjoyment 
of every right not incompatible with the equal rights of others ; 
it is the duty of allegiance : it is the duty of gratitude : it is 
that duty, which love of country imperiously dictates, that every 
citizen should contribute his utmost efforts, to place his be- 
loved country on the pinnacle of national prosperity. Our cit- 
izens, of all professions, should unite in this glorious effort, and 
it is confidently believed that the effort will insure its success. 
In other pursuits our citizens have established and sustained a 
national character, not exceeded in the old world. Our states- 
men are decidedly superior. In the learned professions of law 
and physic, we exhibit a splendid specimen of American Intel- 



Pendleton Fanners' Society. IZd 

led. Our naval heroes, by their valor and skill, and honorable 
humanity, have extorted the plaudits of an admiring world; 
and our armies have lately proved themselves superior to the 
boasted discipline of Europe. Even in agriculture, some of our 
sister states have attained a proficiency highly honorable to 
themselves, and promotive of their permanent wealth and pros- 
perity. Why then are we so far behind them? Why does not 
their patriotic example influence our conduct? Are we made 
of inferior materials ? Are we not fostered by the genial warmth 
of the same political atmosphere ? Or has our wayward fortune 
thrown us on a sterile rock, incapable of improvement? None 
of these obstacles exist. Our district has emerged from the 
infancy of its settlement, while our agricultural knowledge is 
yet in the cradle. Let me not be told that this torpor proceeds 
from local causes: That our numerous water courses are ob- 
structed by rocks, and that we shall find no vent for our in- 
creased productions. The answer is obvious. The superficial 
barriers which nature has thrown in our way, only to stimulate 
our exertions, are not removed, simply because their removal 
has not yet been necessary. But once increase your produc- 
tions ; double them, quadruple them, and they will not be dammed 
up at home; but like our swollen streams, they will burst with 
irresistible impetuosity through the rocks and barriers which 
impede their course to market. This is the natural course of 
events. The connection between this district and the commer- 
cial sections of our State will be facilitated, and we shall obtain 
in exchange for our flour, our corn, our tobacco, and our beef 
and pork, such articles as our necessities may require, at re- 
duced prices. 

Do we want the evidence and authority of the best and wisest 
men in our republic, as to the importance of agricultural knowl- 
edge to our country? It is at hand. Washington, acknowl- 
edged by an admiring world to be the greatest man of the age, 
"the first in war, the first in peace, and the first in the hearts 
of his countrymen," was, himself, an agriculturist. He incul- 
cated by his precepts, and enforced by his example, the princi- 
ples and practice of agriculture, as intimately connected with 
the welfare of that country to which he has left so many proofs 



130 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

of his devotion. Mr. Jefferson, on this subject, has ably sec- 
onded the example of his predecessor. He has been personally 
instrumental in establishing agricultural societies, and has given 
us much valuable information. It is needless to multiply ex- 
amples, almost every distinguished citizen of our country, how- 
ever they may have differed on other points, have united in 
opinion, that a successful system of agriculture is the basis of 
our prosperity; that it is the foundation of commerce; that it 
strengthens the federal bond of union: that it increases the 
actual value of our country; that it enlightens our citizens, as 
to its numerous blessings; that it diffuses knowledge, and thereby 
strengthens a good government, "which is never in danger, 
while a free people are well informed." If these opinions of 
our best men be correct, (and what sceptic can hesitate to be- 
lieve them,) does it not behoove us to assist in this fair and 
goodly work, whose object is so all-important, whose means are 
so much within our reach. But I deem it useless to address a 
further argument to you, gentlemen, on an interesting subject, 
on which the existence, and wealth, and permanent prosperity 
of our country so essentially depends; I will merely suggest a 
few measures, which appear to me to be calculated to promote 
the object of our infant but already respectable institution. 

I propose, in the first place, that our Corresponding Secre- 
tary be directed to open a correspondence with the Philadelphia 
Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, informing them of 
our institution, and its objects, inviting their assistance and 
information, as to the means of procuring the best samples of 
seeds and grain, particularly wheat, the time and mode of sow- 
ing it, the preparation of the soil, and its culture generally. 
The public spirited character of that Society, warrants the be- 
lief that they will receive the communication with pleasure. 

I recommend to your consideration, the payment in advance 
of our first annual subscription, to afford the means of defray- 
ing any little expenses incident to this proposition. 

I propose for your consideration, the expediency of opening 
a correspondence with Mr. Vaughan, of Philadelphia, requesting 
him to furnish the Society with the Memoirs of the Philadel- 
phia, and other similar Societies in the Northern States, and gen- 



Pendleton Fanners' Society. 131 

erally such other books, on Agricultural subjects, as our funds 
will enable us to obtain. The well known philanthropic char- 
acter of this gentleman leaves no doubt that he will execute this 
commission with pleasure. 

As most agricultural experiments and improvements require 
time to execute them, I propose for your consideration, the ex- 
pediency of offering a premium for the best field of wheat, not 
less than four acres, which must be ploughed at least twice, 
and harrowed in, the wheat not sown among corn; the grain 
to be thrashed out, accurately measured, and a fair sample pro- 
duced to the Society, at their stated meeting, the fourth Thurs- 
day of July, 1816; certificates of the preparation of the ground 
and measurement of the wheat to accompany the sample. Pub- 
lic notice of this premium should be immediately inserted in 
the Pendleton Messenger, to which should be prefixed, a short 
statement of our Society and its objects; and inviting the as- 
sistance of literary, philosophical, and agricultural men. The 

premium should be a silver cup, of the value of dollars, 

with a suitable inscription. 

To these observations and propositions, permit me to add the 
expression of my gratitude, for the unmerited honor of the 
presiding chair, to which nothing indeed could have entitled 
me, but your partiality, and zealous interest in the important 
object of this Society. I indulge, however, a fervent hope, 
that by the blessings of Providence, a star may rise in the west, 
whose brilliant effulgence may illumine a midnight path, and 
attracting others within its orbit, may finally shed the happiest 
rays of light on the destinies of our beloved country. 

Thomas Pinckney, Jr. 
President of the Farmers' Socipty. 
J. T. Lewis, Esq., Corresponding Secretary. 



132 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 



On the Superiority of the Egyptian Over the Common 

Oat. 

BY the first president OF THE SOCIETY. 

Pendleton, July 13, 1815. 

Sir — Having heard some farmers declare their opinions in 
preference of the common oat, to the Egyptian oat, I take the 
liberty of stating to the Society, the result of my experience 
this year, as to these two kinds of oats. 

About the 15th of March, I sowed ten acres, one half with 
Egyptian oats, and the other half with the common black oats. 
The same quantity of seed, and the same culture was used, and 
they were both sowed in the same field. The Egyptian oats al- 
ways appeared more vigorous and thriving; on the 10th of June, 
the whole field was eared out, and shortly after, I observed that 
the common oat was very much smutted, almost one ear in ten, 
while I could not find one single smutted ear in the Egyptian 
oats. I also observed that not more than two or three stems 
rose from one plant of the common oats, while five or six were 
common from the other; and the general appearance of the field 
warrants the opinion that double the quantity of the Egyptian 
oats will be reaped. 

The common oats were cradled on the 3d of this month, 
since which, the continued rains have obliged me to let the large 
oats stand, and though they are over ripe, I do not observe 
that they lodge at all, though one of my neighbors informed me 
his common oats were down. The straw of the large oat is 
stronger and larger, and more valuable therefore for manure. 

The Egyptian oat is a winter grain, and should be sown under 
furrow in September, when they will furnish a good winter pas- 
ture for sheep, without much injury, if they are taken off early. 
They litter very much when so^vn early, and spread on the 
ground, which the common oat does not, and its not being lia- 
ble to smut is a great advantage. I have sown them many years, 
and do not recollect ever to have seen them smutted. It is a 



I'endleton Farmers' Society. 133 

good practice to let the oats intended for seed remain a few- 
days after the others are cradled, as it is probable that unripe 
and damp seed, which will get mouldy, may be one cause of 
the smut in oats. It is highly advantageous to cut the rest of 
the crop some time before they are ripe, while the stalk is yet 
green; if well cured, their value as fodder is thereby doubled. 

The same results as to these two kinds of oats, may not arise, 
if sown by different farmers, in different fields, and in different 
years; a better or a worse season or soil, may cause an im- 
proper conclusion to be drawn. The fair way is to sow them 
perfect similarity of circumstances under whicli they were 
at the same time, in the same field, and in the same way. The 
oats sown in my field, leaves no doubt in my mind, of the great 
superiority of the Egyptian oat. 

I have only to add that the soil of the field is tolerably good 
upland, some clayey loam, with a substratum of stiff red clay. 

Although the subject of this communication may not be 
thought very important, yet I think if farmers generally would 
favor the Society with their experiments on every agricultural 
subject, a mass of information would be collected, from which 
might be selected a most useful and practical system of hus- 
bandry. 

I am sir, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

Thomas Pincknet, Jr. 
J. T. Lewis, Esq., Corresponding Secretary. 



134 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

On Wheat, 
by john l, north^ esq. 

July 7, 1815. 

Sir — In consequence of the very serious damages that wheat 
crops have for several years past sustained from rust, and of 
the heavy loss necessarily experienced by the farmer, I have 
been induced to turn my attention to that subject, and I now 
communicate to the society a few observations, not so much 
however with the hope of offering any thing new or interesting, 
as of encouraging gentlemen to similar attempts. 

Of all the diseases to which wheat is subject, I know of no 
one so rapid in its progress or so fatal in its effects, as rust. 
The moment it seizes on a plant, all vegetation ceases : in a few 
days its leaves and stalks become dry and useless, and the grain 
eventually turns out to be light and worthless. Farmers, and 
indeed men of science, appear to be but little acquainted with 
the cause or nature of this disease, and still less with the remedy 
proper for it. The variety of opinions that have been offered 
on the subject, (some plausible indeed, but none perfectly sat- 
isfactory) is a proof of this fact. Dr. Darwin supposes rust 
to be a fungus, similar to mildew, which resembles certain 
kinds of liverwort, and grows beneath' the leaves of plants al- 
ready diseased, and conjectures that greater light and ventila-* 
tion may prevent or destroy it. Whether this hypothesis has 
ever found any advocates among men of science, I have never 
been able to learn; but I believe it to be unsupported by the 
experience of any respectable farmer, either in Europe or this 
country. My own is directly opposed to it. I have sowed 
wheat on lands somewhat worn, but still in good heart, and also 
on the very first quality high lands, and have always noticed 
those parts where it was thin, and of course completely exposed 
to the operation of both light and ventilation, to be greatly in- 
jured, whilst others differently situated, have escaped entirely, 
or been little affected. The same or very similar results, have 
been remarked by others for several years past, and as far as I 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 135 

know, without any material variation. M. Segur conjectures 
mildew to be the cause of rust. He describes mildew as a dis- 
ease of plants, consisting of a thick, clammy, sweetish juice, 
that is supposed to exhale from or descend on the leaves and 
blossoms of plants. This juice is said to be of a sharp corrosive 
nature, and by its acrimony, to prevent the circulation of sap. 
Others again ascribe it to honey dew, which is in its nature 
and effects very like mildew; and a few, I believe, to the action 
of cold, which bursts the sap vessels, or to innumerable insects. 
The last of these opinions seems now, however, to be generally 
abandoned; for the most accurate and patient examination, by 
means of microscopical glasses, does not lend it even the color 
of support. Without considering further the varying, and in 
many instances, contradictory opinions of writers on this sub- 
ject, I proceed to mention the issue of several experiments 
made by me with the view of finding some preventive for this 
disease; and also of others, which, though not made by me, 
nevertheless came under my observation, and thence draw a few 
conclusions. 

In ISTovember, 1812, I sowed nine acres of stiff creek low 
grounds in wheat; upwards of a bushel was put to the acre, 
and ploughed in with two horses. When it had only its two 
first leaves, the cold weather set in, and continued with undi- 
minished severity for several weeks. During that time, we had 
a fall of snow; it was not deep enough to do good, indeed it 
rather did harm. One or two days after the snow disappeared, 
I examined my wheat, I found it, as to growth, but little im- 
proved; its appearance red, and otherwise unhealthy. Through 
the winter it remained nearly stationary; as the spring ad- 
vanced, however, it pushed forward rapidly, and promised well. 
About the time rust generally makes its appearance, I heard of 
some fields in my neighborhood being overrun with it. This 
induced me to examine my crop a second time, when I found 
it to be injured only where it was thin, or baclrward, or where 
it was lightly manured with ashes. But these spots were also 
backward. I harvested at the usual time. My wheat, under 
all these disadvantages, was fair and usually plump. It yielded 
considerably more to the acre than my neighbors ; and weighed 



136 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

sixty-six pounds to the bushel. The spring was late ; the nights 
and days alternately hot and cold. 

The succeeding fall I had a very fine piece of high land 
sowed down in wheat; about the same quantity was put to the 
acre as on the preceding year. It was ploughed in with a 
single horse, but well, the land being in capital tilth. In the 
fore part of the spring, which was open, my wheat became lux- 
uriant. On the 16th and 17th of April," the forward shoots 
were filled in the hose by frost. The under shoots then came 
forward. The whole field was almost totally destroyed by rust. 
Another field at some distance from the creek, and which suf- 
fered but little from frost, escaped almost without damage. 
These fields were sowed about the same time and by the same 
hand; the quantity of seed to the acre the same. The wheat 
on the creek was most backward. 

Last year I sowed a twelve acre field in wheat, allowins; nine 
bushels to the whole, or three pecks to the acre. It was ploughed 
in with two horses. Through the winter and spring its growth 
was inconsiderable. It was generally much injured by rust. 
On examination I found that those spots which were shaded 
or thin, or where a quantity of ashes had been left, (some log 
heaps having been burnt on the field) were the most damaged. 
The spring more backward than the two preceding. Frost oc- 
curred as late as the 22d of May. On the adjoining farm, six 
bushels of wheat were put on between three and four acres of 
land, some of which had been upwards of twenty years under 
cultivation. It was sowed rather later than mine, but came up 
about the same time. The only part affected was rather thin. 
The grain is good, and the crop promises to be abundant. 

To these statements I might add many others; but I deem 
them sufficient for my purpose. I cannot, however, deny my- 
self the satisfaction of relating a fact, which, though it has no 
material bearing on the subject of rust, yet shews that the prac- 
tice of thin sowing is discountenanced by some able farmers, on 
the score of profit. In Switzerland, one of the best agricultur- 
ists usually sowed three bushels of wheat to the acre, first, how- 
ever, dressing that quantity of ground with light loads of ma- 
nure. The produce, one year with another was sixty bushels 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 137 

to the acre, which left, after deducting the expenses of seed, 
rent, tythes, labor, &c. a clear gain of twelve bushels and thirty 
bundles of straw per acre. I am particular in mentioning straw, 
because it is everywhere, but in this country, considered to be 
of the very first importance. It is the source whence the great- 
est quantity of manure is derived, and without manure there 
can be no good farming. 

From the above statements I deduce the following inferences : 
1st. That rust, whatever may be its nature, arises chiefly 
from the alternate action of heat and cold, on plants that are 
thin; or from whatever cause, unreasonably backward. 

2d. That deep ploughing, which increases the pasture or 
food of plants, and thick sowing, which preserves a more equal 
temperature, are the best preventives of this disease. 
I am sir, your obedient servant, 

John North. 
J. T. Lewis, Esq., Corresponding Secretary. 



138 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 



On Pea Hay. 

by john l. north, esq., chairman of a committee. 

September 11, 1815. 
Sir — It seems to be conceded on all hands that an ally to 
Indian corn, on which we have heretofore relied for the support 
of our horses and stock during the winter and spring, has be- 
come absolutely indispensable, for it can no longer be concealed, 
that under our present wretched system of husbandry, this grain 
exhausts very much; and whilst it yields every succeeding year, 
a more straitened supply, returns less offal to the earth than 
any other we grow. By some unaccountable oversight, the stalks 
which are in other states carefully husbanded, and turned to 
good account, both as an article of food and manure, are with us, 
suffered to remain through the winter exposed to the iniluonce 
of sun, air and frost, or else a half starved drove of cattle is 
turned in upon them to glean a scanty subsistence. To the ex- 
haustion that lands necessarily experience in the production of 
every kind of white grain, is thus added waste, and the serious 
damages that kneading them into mortar, invariably occasions. 
In this poached state, all the benefit they may have derived from 
frost is entirely lost; and they are likewise prevented from im- 
bibing those particles from the atmosphere, which constitute 
so essential a portion of the food of plants. For remedying 
these evils, which were so severely felt in the diminished product 
of our crops, and increased poverty of our farms, many of us 
had recourse to small grain, which it was confidently hoped 
would at once ameliorate the soil, and supply all deficiencies. 
Among these, wheat and rye had the preference ; but experience, 
so far from justifying our choice, has compelled us to admit 
that they impoverish much more than Indian corn ; that they 
yield less to the acre, and that their litter is not to be compared, 
either in quantity or quality, with that of Indian corn, whiL-;t 
the food they furnish, is also less substantial. With the same 
view, o?»ts have been tried, but owing perhaps, to the small quan- 
tity of seed sown to the acre, they have proved even more in- 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 139 

jurious and less productive than either wheat or rye. Notwith- 
standing, however, the ill success of these experiments, we 
ought not to be discouraged, since other crops may do for us, 
what we had too inconsiderately expected from those of small 
grain. As promising a more favorable issue, we earnestly recom- 
mend leguminous crops, particularly peas, which will answer 
the double purpose of shading and opening the soil. They 
give besides an excellent food, and the hay made of the vines 
is superior to any we have ever tried. We have known several 
horses to be kept through the winter, in excellent order, upon 
what was gathered from a corn field of small extent. It is no 
material objection to them, that they are difficult to cure, for 
if that be the case, they are also not easily spoiled. As another 
auxiliary, let us bring to your notice, oats, which ought, however, 
to be sowed at the rate of between four and five bushels to the 
acre, and cut before they shoot the ear. Oats have been found 
to do well at the northward, on lands not differing in quality 
from our own. It is, however, to be distinctly understood, that 
they are to be grown in this manner, only on farms which have 
no meadows. To these may be added Guinea corn, which suc- 
ceeds well here, and affords a greater quantity of green food 
for soiling, than any plan I am acquainted with. It will be- 
sides enable us to abandon pasturing our fields, which is per- 
haps the most fruitful source of their poverty. Chicory and 
manglewurtzel or the white beet may also be tried. The former 
of these is spoken highly of in England, and may answer well 
here. It is greedily eaten by horses and sheep. Like Guinea 
corn, it may be cut several times through the summer. Above 
all we recommend meadows. To these only can we look for 
effectual relief from the incumbrances under which our corn 
cribs daily groan; and for a constant supply of manure, upon 
which, it cannot be too often repeated, all economical farming 
must be bottomed. We have not noticed cabbages, potatoes. 



140 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

parsnips, turnips, carrots, &c., because we do not think they 
will answer. Most of them have not done well at the north- 
ward, and from the trials we have made of them, they will do 
worse here. As coming within the subject of economy, we rec- 
ommend that all manures be diligently saved and applied; that 
weeds be carefully extirpated; and that farms should never be 
burthened with supernumerary horses or cattle. 
I am, &c., 

John L. North, Chairman. 
J. T. Lewis, Esq., Corresponding Secretary. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 141 



On Sheep. 

by john l. north, esq. 

Sir — As merino sheep are daily becoming more important 
as well to individuals as to the community, it will not, I hope, 
be unacceptable to the Society, to have a few remarks on their 
introduction into some of the countries of Europe; on the prac- 
ticability of acclimating them here; and also on their great su- 
periority over every other kind now in our State. For a long 
time it was the prevalent opinion, that merino sheep degenerated 
in form and size, as well as in fineness of fleece, everywhere 
except in Spain ; for it was generally believed that their frequent 
migrations from the fiat lands, to the mountains, (to which 
agriculture was almost entirely sacrificed,) but more especially 
that some peculiarity in the soil and climate of that country, 
was essential to their greatest perfection in these respects. 
From this opinion, we accordingly find no deviation, until the 
year 1722, when their introduction into Sweden was made a 
national concern, a premium of 25 per cent, being allowed by 
the government "on the value of the wool to the grower." The 
climate of Sweden is regarded as less friendly to sheep than 
that of any other improved portion of Europe, both on account 
of the heat and shortness of its summers, and the length and 
severity of its winters; nevertheless they have not degenerated, 
even there, although Sweden possesses upwards of 100,000 me- 
rinoes of the pure blood, and nearly a century passed since they 
were originally introduced. A circumstance so extraordinary 
as this, it might have been expectpd would not have been suf- 
fered to pass without improvement, much less without notice ; 
yet for a considerable time, (sur-h is the power of prejudice) 
no attempts were made by other countries to secure this valuable 
breed. At length in 1786, Louis XIV. after having, by nu- 
merous experiments, ascertained that they would do equally well 
there, imported into France, under the care of Spanish shep- 
herds, four hundred rams and ewes, which were by permission 
of the then sovereign king, selected from the best Spanish flocks. 



142 Pendleton Farmers Society. 

These so far from degenerating, on the contrary, have actually 
improved in every respect; for M. Gilbert, one of the members 
of the national institute, asserts "that they do not yield in any 
circumstance, to the most beautiful in point of size, form and 
strength, or in the fineness, length, softness, strength, and abund- 
ance of the fleece." He adds, "the manufacturers and dealers in 
wool, who came in numbers to Eambouillet this year, (1796) to 
purchase, unanimously agreed to this fact, at the very time they 
were combining to keep down the price." This statement is 
confirmed by M. Tesaire & Huzard, and likewise by the duke 
of Bedford, who says, "that he found the sheep of Eambouillet 
of a size he was unprepared to expect, and that still the wool 
preserved its original purity." He also states that "samples of 
the wool taken when the sheep first arrived, and at various 
periods, since that time, were examined by him, with all possi- 
ble accuracy, and evidently declared a progressive improvement." 
Col. Humphries, of Connecticut, also mentions in his letter 
to the Agricultural Society, of Massachusetts, that the national 
flock of France, gave double as much as those of Spain, and 
still their wool retained its original fineness." In England 
where they have lately been carried, they have also ardently un- 
dergone a change for the better; for Doctor Parry insists, "from 
his own experience, that the wool of his upland ewes, in the 
fourth generation, was injured when he put to them a full blood 
Spanish ram." Encouraged by the success of these and other 
experiments, and believing from circumstances, that even the 
condition of the imported breed of Europe might be meliorated 
in this countrv. in 1792, Mr Livingston, then our ambassador 
in France, purchased several ewes and a ram, and shipped them 
for the United States. These were picked from the so justly 
celebrated Eambouillet fl.ock; yet Mr. Livingston declares them 
to be inferior in every point, to those of his own raising, but 
particularly in the quality of the wool. "It is certain," says a 
vn-iter on the subject of merinoes. "that Mr. Caldwell, of New 
Jersey, in all his enterprising purchases, from the late impor- 
tations of Spanish sheep, has never met with any equal in ap- 
pearance, fineness of fleece, or length of pile, to those of his own 
raising, from his original flock." Their easy acclimation at 
the northward, and the great profit derived from them, joined 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 143 

to the persuasion that they would thrive equally well in our 
climate, induced several merchants to import a few of the mixed 
breed from the Northern States, and some full breed Spanish 
merinoes into Charleston. A few of both descriptions were dis- 
posed of there. I have seen, in different parts of the state, 
many of the lambs of these, most of them were superior in 
form and size to the parent stock, and such of their fleeces as 
I have noticed, were decidedly finer, without adding other proofs 
of their progressive improvement, and of course, of the practi- 
cability of acclimating them in the Southern, as well as the 
Northern States. I come now to the principal object of this 
communication, which is to show that they are much more ad- 
vantageous to the farmer. The sheep of this state in particular, 
may be divided into three or four different kinds, but I shall 
only notice those that are attended to on account of their wool. 
The most remarkable of these, indeed the only one worthy of 
observation, is that which resembles the Southdown sheep of 
England, which are thus described by Lacock: "It has no 
horns, its legs and face are grey, its head and upper part of 
the neck very thick, the pile planted very closely on the pelt, 
the fleeces verv unequal, that of the back differs considerably 
from the produce of the sides and shoulders, and the brush 
becomes suddenly very coarse, the pile not uniform, and fre- 
quently contains a number of coarse and long hairs, which prove 
hurtful to the cloth." Their fleeces, it is understood commonly 
weigh from two to three pounds, and sell in England at about 
42 cents the pound. The following description of merino sheep 
is from Mr. Livingston's book, on that subject. "The race va- 
ries greatly in size and beauty, in different parts of Spain. It 
is commonly rather srhaller than the middle size sheep of 
America. The body is compact, the legs short, the head long, 
the forehead arched. The ram generally (but not invariably) 
carries very large spiral horns, has a fine eye and a bold step. 
The ewes have generally no horns. The wool of these sheep is 
so much finer and softfr than the common wool, as to bear no 
sort of comparison with it;- it is twisted and drawn together 
like a corkscrew; its length is generally about three inches, but 
when drawn out, it will stretch to nearly double that length. 



144 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

The wool is, when cleansed, extremely white, yet on the sheep 
it appears of a yellowish or dirty hrown color owing to the close- 
ness of the coat, and the condensation of the perspiration on 
the extremities of the fleece. The wool commonly covers a 
great part of the head, and descends to the hoof of the hind feet, 
particularly in young sheep : it is also much more greasy than the 
wool of other sheep. The skin is of a fine carnation red and 
very thin." It is stated, on good authority, that merino wool 
has sold in England at upwards of 25s. sterling the pound; at 
the northward it readily commands two dollars. It has already 
been remarked, that "the wool of these sheep is so much finer 
and softer than that of common sheep, as to bear no sort of 
comparison with it;" but this is not the only circumstance in 
which they claim a superiority; they also yield more wool in 
proportion to their size or weight of carcase. To settle this 
point, five common sheep were weighed on Mr. Livingston's 
farm, their average weight was found to be 82 lbs. 6 oz., the 
average weight of each fleece 4 lbs. 4 oz., so that these sheep 
gave one pound of wool to every 20 lbs. of carcase. With the 
same view twelve half and three- fourth blood ewes were weighed, 
the average weight of each was 64 lbs., that of the fleece 5 lbs. 
14 oz. which is one pound of wool to every 10 1-2 lbs. of carcase. 
And my own observation convinces me that, great as this differ- 
ence appears to be, it is not exaggerated. I last year sheared 
sixteen common sheep, seven of which were three years old 
wethers of fine size; their united fleeces gave me only 32 lbs. 
or 2 lbs. to each fleece, whilst four half bloods, of the common 
size, one of which was shorn the fall before, yielded me 20 lbs. 
or 5 lbs. to every sheep. Mr. Arbuthnot, of Bath, (formerly a 
woollen manufacturer) has for several years tried the Spanish 
cross with the Wiltshire breed, nearly trebling the wool in quan- 
tity, and improving it extremely in quality. "The carcases," he 
observes, "are reduced in size, but improved in mould, and 
their disposition to fatten increased." Now if we suppose the 
wool of each sort to be worth fifty cents per pound, and their 
keep through the winter one dollars fifty cents, there will then 
be a loss of fifty cents on every common fleece, estimating these 
at two pounds each, which is believed to be a fair estimate ; but 
in the case of mixed merinoes, a clear gain of fifty cents, their 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 145 

fleeces weighing double as much as those of common sheep. In 
j\Ir. Livingston's treatise on sheep, to which I am indebted for 
most of the information this paper contains, and which I ear- 
nestly recommend to the attentive perusal of every farmer, a 
calculation of a similar nature will be found; but it is much 
more satisfactory, being more particular. He there proves that 
on 201 common fleeces, the grower will sustain a loss of six 
dollars and three cents, or three cents per fleece, whilst the 
same number of mixed merino fleeces will afford a net profit of 
765 dollars; and, if the value of the sheep themselves, and of 
tlieir lambs, be taken into consideration, there will then be a 
difference of upwards of 2,000 dollars, in favor of the merinoes. 
Another advantage, which must not be overlooked is, as has been 
already mentioned, that they are much more easily kept, and of 
course less expensive to the farmer. Every animal with which 
I am acquainted, I will venture to assert, will be found easy or 
difficult to fatten, precisely in that degree in which it may be 
well or badly made. A horse, for instance, having few defective 
points, will take on both flesh and fat more readily than one of 
a different and inferior structure. Of the common sheep I 
possess, one is conspicuous for beauty of form. She is always 
in better order than the rest, their chances being equal ; and her 
lambs are for the most part the best I have. She last year 
nursed two lambs without any additional food, which are not 
inferior to any of the same age. Merino sheep, at least those 
that have come under my observation, possess every advantage in 
point of form. Compared with other sheep, they exhibit the 
same superiority that the thorough bred English bull does 
over the common scrubs of the country, and that they are really 
more easily kept, is no longer a matter of opinion. Lord Somer- 
ville, who has paid particular attention to this matter, asserts 
"that the same land which carried indifferently 45 long woolled 
sheep, maintained, in good plight, 150 rj^elands, the lambs of 
which were weaned in good order. These lambs were summered 
on the same land, at more than twelve per acre; and although 
kept hard during the winter, the wethers fatted to sixteen 
pounds the quarter."' LaureuiCie obsierves, "in generial, land 
worth a guinea per acre, will carry and keep in good store 
state, 6% Spanish ryelands, from 4 to 41/2 Spanish Southdowns, 
allowing turnips, pease, and hanlin in the dead winter months. 



146 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

The largest breed of Southdowns, are stocked in Sussex, at the 
rate of four per acre; of full blood merinoes it will carry a pro- 
portionably greater number. They have been found very apt to 
take on both flesh and fat." "It is understood," says Colonel 
Humphreys in his letter already referred to, "that the merinoes 
are more easily maintained and fattened than the taller and lar- 
ger breed, insomuch that there are persons acquainted with both 
breeds, who calculate that 200 of these small-boned and 
short-legged sheep may be kept in tolerably good condition, 
where 20 of the other would suffer for want." Toilet asserts 
"that one acre of land which will keep three SouthdowTis, 
(similar to our sheep) will be sufficient to keep four merinoes." 
He adds what is worthy of great attention, "the produce in wool 
of the Southdowns, would be 18s. 6d. per acre, that of the mer- 
inoes 31. 15s. 6d. sterling." The common sheep cast their wool 
in the spring of the year, the merinoes do not; this then is 
another advantage. The French, English and Swiss Agricultur- 
ists, have for particular purposes permitted the wool to remain 
on the sheep for two and even three years, without injury to the 
sheep or loss to the grower, for they then afford twice or three 
times the usual quantity of wool, and of double or treble the 
usual length. The same experiment has been tried by Mr. Euth- 
erford, of New York, with a 7-8 ram, and with similar success. 
From this, another advantage arises, which is certainly of im- 
portance, in a climate so variable as ours ; I mean the not being 
obliged to shear them at an unseasonable time. "Sheep are 
subject to colds and chills of the limbs," which always prove 
hurtful, oftentimes fatal. "The pelt rot," observes Mr. Living- 
ston, "generally arises from hard keeping and much exposure to 
wet and cold, and in fact, the animal often dies in severe weath- 
er, from the cold it suffers by the loss of its coat;" and lastly 
they are less liable to disease. Poverty is the parent of half the 
diseases to which sheep are subject. If then merinoes have a 
greater disposition to fatten than common sheep, they are of 
course exactly in that proportion more free from those distem- 
pers which have their origin in scanty food. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 147 

Before I put an end to this communication, let me persuade 
every farmer, if his circumstances will admit of it, to procure, 
as soon as possible, a full-blood merino ram, if not, then one of 
the mixed breed, the higher the grade the better. By a single 
cross only, he will increase the value of his flock to an astonish- 
ing degree, and thus convert an evil into a benefit, since it has 
been proved that common sheep are not only unproductive, but 
really expensive. 

I am sir, your obedient servant, 

John L. North. 
J. T. Lewis, Esq., Corresponding Secretary. 



148 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 



On Winter Fallowing. 



BY THOMAS PINCKNEY, ESQ. 



Altamont, July 1, 1816. 

Dear Sir — I beg leave to direct the attention of the Society, 
to an object I have long thought of the first inportanee, and my 
observations during the last two years have so strongly convinced 
me of its great utility on our ridge farms, which are generally 
stiff clay lands, that I flatter myself the Socivity may think the 
subject worthy of their consideration : It is a winter fallow. 

The modern improvements in husbandry have, I believe, en- 
tirely superseded the old laborious and expensive mode of clean- 
ing lands by summer fallow. Fallow crops have been introduced 
which have the desired effect, and at the same time preserve the 
soils from losing their finer and more subtle particles by e^aj/o- 
ration, while they yield some return to the farmer for his labor. 
Still however, the principal object of a fallow crop is cleaning 
foul land, and if great judgment and care is not exercised in the 
selection and culture of the crop, the soil will be as much exhaus- 
ted as by the old naked fallows. But the winter fallow has a 
higher object; its direct tendency is the actual improvement of 
the soil, by exposing it to the action of the winter rains and 
frosts, which perhaps more minutely enter, separate, and pulver- 
ize our stiff clays, than any other known agent. The action of 
frost, however, is generally limited to an inch or two below the 
surface, but by throwing our stiff clay fields into five or six feet 
ridges, high on the crown, and th-e furrows made very deep, we 
admit this friendly agent to as great a depth as is necessary for 
most of our crops. In this stage of the fallow, if manure of any 
kind can be procured, there is no mode of application more eco- 
nomical, or more immediately useful, than scattering it in the 
bottom of the deep furrows. In March the ridges are to be split 
down and gathered over the manure. Thus, every particle of the 
soil will be moved, and the frost, the manure, and the plough 
will have totally destroyed that compact adhesion which is tlv^ 



Pendleton Farmers Society. l-i9 

unfortunate characteristic of our clay soils. Corn may then be 
planted from three to five or six feet distance on the ridges, ac- 
cording to the quantity of manure or quality of the land, with 
the greatest probability of a successful crop. From my own 
experience, I can affirm, that stiff clay worn soils have produced 
three times as much as they did, without the winter fallow and 
manure, and nearly twice as much, ivith winter fallow, and 
without manure, as they did without either. 

I may be told, however, that manure alone, without the fallow, 
would be sufficient to produce this difference, and the labor of 
one ptoughing be therefore saved; but a strong proof of the ne- 
cessity of the fallow fell under my ol:iservation a week or two 
ago; so strong indeed as to have influenced my decision, to ad- 
dress this communication to you. 

My neighbor had ridged up a field in March last, the ridges 
twelve feet apart, manure was spread in the furrows, and the 
ridges gathered over the manure. I was convinced there was 
manure enough, as the roots of some stalks of corn, that had 
been thinned out, brought up large balls of manure, as they 
were pulled up. This field was planted the third and fourth 
days of April, and the corn appeared to be generally about three 
feethigh, and looked indeed well, but not of that flourishing 
vigorous growth, I had expected from its culture and the great 
width of rows. A stiff field of mine, had been winter fallowed 
in the mode I have mentioned, the last of November. The ma- 
nure was hauled out and spread in the furrows, the middle of 
March, the ridges were reversed, and corn was planted four feet 
apart, the last day of March, three or four days only sooner than 
my neighbor's; and it did appear to his manager and myself, 
that my corn was twice as high, of a deeper color, and generally 
more vigorous and luxuriant; yet their treatment was similar, 
their culture equal ; his land naturally better than mine, his rows 
twice the width, but his field laid hard and compact, under the 
frost and snow of the last winter, being only ridged in March, 
while mine was ridged in November last, and exposed during a 
hard winter to the full influence of the frost and snow. This 
case appears to me decisive of the great advantage of a winter 
fallow. 



150 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

A proof of the utility of this operation is, that for several 
months after forming the new ridge in the spring, the soil of it 
continues to be mellow and loose, affording fine pasturage for 
the roots of plants, and although a plough is never run across 
the ridges, so as to displace the manure or destroy the young 
roots; yet they are so open and mellow, that your walking stick 
may easily be pushed down to the bottom of the winter furrow. 
It is self-evident that this must be greatly advantageous, and 
consequently the plant arrives sooner at perfection, as its growth 
is never retarded by the struggles of the young roots to pene- 
trate a stiff soil. I remarked last summer, that the fodder and 
corn were taken ten days or a fortnight sooner from the part of 
the field that had been winter-fallowed and manured than from 
other corn planted at the same time, and one acre of the fodder 
of the former was worth that of two acres which had not been so 
treated. 

Among the numerous incidental advantages of this practice 
may be also stated, that of destroying most of the weeds by 
turning them up to be killed by the frost, and their decay assists 
to enrich the soil. I should think it strange indeed if our fields 
were not clean, when the weeds are so incessantly attacked by the 
frosts of the winter and the ploughing of the summer, in this 
mode of culture. 

But again, I may be told that even gold may be bought too 
dear, and that this operation in husbandry, though beneficial, 
will not pay by its siirplus product for the surplus labor it re- 
quires. As this is an objection which may at first appear reason- 
able, and which if well founded, would of course render the prac- 
tice of winter fallowing ineligible, I will very briefly examine 
it. 

I presume that I am correct in stating the value of the labor 
of a man with his horse and plough at one dollar a day. Let us 
suppose we have a field of stiff red clay of ten acres, and that by 
industry and judgment, it will produce in the common way, ten 
bushels to the acre. The only difference in the labor and ex- 
pense of culture of the two modes, is the ridging up in the begin- 
ning of winter in the practice of winter fallowing. For the re- 
versing of the ridges in spring, is not more expensive than the 
common mode of preparing a field propei-ly for planting. I 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 151 

know that an acre a day is light work for one plough, the ex- 
pense therefore of ridging up the field is ten dollars, and I really 
believe all other expense and trouble to be equal in both modes. 
The produce of the field in the common mode is one hundred 
bushels, and I can hardly prevail on myself to state the produce 
of the winter fallowed field so low as fifteen bushels; I feel well 
assured from one year's experience that it is double that of the 
common mode, but even at one-half more, its produce is one hun- 
dred and fifty bushels, which additional fifty bushels you get for 
ten dollars. To this is to be added, that your fodder in quality 
and quantity is superior in the same proportion, and if you have 
peas in the step on the ridge, tjieir produce also excels that of the 
common mode; in a word, your crop is one-half better in all re- 
spects. It will be remembered too, that your winter fallowing can 
be done in a season of leisure, and that your soil is improved by 
pulverization and the destruction of weeds. 

If these are facts, sir, which I have stated, and I have myself 
no doubt of their reality, they are worthy of consideration; and 
with a sincere hope that they may be beneficial to those of my 
brother farmers, who have stiff clay soils, 

I remain very respectfully. 

Your obedient humble servant, 

Thomas Pinckney, Jr. 
J. T. Lewis, Esq., Corresponding Secretary. 



152 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 



0^ PEA HAY. 

BY THOMAS PINOKNEY, JR., ESQ. 

Altamont, September 9, 1816. 
Dear Sir^ — A committee of this Society was appointed during 
the last year, and charged to discover and recommend some 
mode of maintaining farm stock, besides the incessant appli- 
cation to the corn crib. This committee, among other substi- 
tutes and aid, recommended pea hay, as aii'ording a rich food 
for horses and cattle, and whose culture at the same time, was 
easy, and its growth beneficial to the soil. Believing the recom- 
mendation to be judicious, I have adopted it, and now take the 
liberty of submitting to the Society the result of my first crop of 
pea hay. 

The last of April I ploughed up an old field which had been 
in corn the preceding year, a stiffened clay, much worn, and of 
which about two acres had been manured for corn, the preceding 
year. Across this ploughing I drillied in peas with a shovel 
plough, three feet apart, on the 6th and 7th of May. I ploughed 
them twice ; the first time between the 1st and 3rd of June, the 
second time between the 20th and 24th of June; I hoed them 
once, the end of June. This is all the culture they received. On the 
26th of August I began to cut the pea vines, and finished the 
27th, cutting half the field which consists of fourteen acres. In 
most places the dry weather had injured them, and they did not 
look as flourishing as I expected. Four days after cutting them, 
I turned them, putting two rows into one, and on the sixth day I 
turned them again. On the morning of the eighth day, I began 
to haul them in, and finished the next day ; and they have pro- 
duced me twenty-five heavy wagon loads of rich, good fodder. As 
this produce may be best understood by comparison, I will state 
that I had a field of corn of twenty-two acres adjoining of new 
land, only the second crop, which had been planted very early, 
and had not suffered by the drought; the fodder was very good, 
and was carefully saved, and produced me sixteen wagon loads. 

I am extremely sorry I have not the means of weighing a load 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 153 

of the pea fodder, but I should think a wagon load of it must 
weigh nearly twice as much as a load of corn blades, and the 
difference in quality is very great. Twenty-five loads from seven 
acres and a half in one case, and sixteen loads from twenty-two 
acres in the other. Less than two-thirds of a load of blades to 
the acre, and more than three loads of pea fodder to the acre. 

If it be true, as has been stated to me, from the best authority, 
that a peck basket of these vines, chopped in a common cutting 
box, twice a day, is good sufficient food for a horse, with a small 
portion of blades, when not at hard work, I should not hesitate 
to believe this produce to be superior to that of a regular corn 
crop, on such land, which could not be expected to produce much 
more than ten bushels to the acre. Indeed I know positively, 
from my memorandum book, that its produce last year, under 
favorable circumstances, was but ten bushels and a half. At 
this rate my seven acres and a half would produce me but sev- 
enty-eight bushels of corn, and about five wagon loads of fodder. 
Let us suppose a heavy load of this fodder to be equal to seven 
bushels of corn (and I would not exchange it for ten), these 
seven acres and a half have produced me that which is equal to 
175 bushels of corn, in feeding cattle and horses; and I know it 
would puzzle the best farmer to produce half this quantity from 
these seven acres and a half, in their present state. If to these 
advantages we add that peas are an ameliorating crop, drawing 
very little from the earth, and shading and protecting it from 
the powerful influence of the sun, that their leaves are mostly 
left on the soil, to enrich it, and that they are a fine preparatory 
crop for wheat, as they may be got off the land exactly in time 
to prepare it for seeding. I think that we shall agree that the 
committee have been very judicious in recommending the pea 
culture; and I hope my success will induce some of my brother 
farmers, who have fields requiring rest or shift, to substitute a 
crop of peas for the common mode of sowing oats or wheat, 
which are exhausting crops. 



154 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

The Society will readily perceive the error I committed in 
this crop : The peas were sown, as I have stated, on the 6th and 
7th days of May, when they ought to have been sown as early as 
the frost would permit. This circumstance and the late dry 
woather evidently injured them very much. 

I am, dear sir, very respectfully, 

Your obedient humble servant, 

Thomas Pincknet, Jr. 
J. T. Le»vis, Esq., Corresponding Secretary. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 155 



First President's Valedictory. 

Pendleton, June 13, 1817. 

I offer you, my brother farmers, my best congratulations, on 
the return of this second anniversary of our Society, and I fer- 
vently hope that each succeeding year, may still find us in the 
path of public usefulness, and supported by the voice of public 
opinion. All reflecting men must applaud our motives, and I trust 
that the wisdom of our measures will equally merit their appro- 
bation. 

It is a source of the most pure and heart-felt joy to me, that 
I am enabled to state to you, that we have always been useful. 
The first object to which the Society turned its attention, was 
the improvement of our wheat crops, and behold our fields are 
now loaded. I have been informed, that one-third more wheat 
will be reaped this year, than was ever raised in this district. 
This is an inspiring fact, and should stimulate us to proceed 
with increased ardor, in our laudable career. 

The term for which I have been elected, having expired, per- 
mit me, before I retire from the chair, as my last official act, to 
implore your attention to an object, without which, there can be 
no good farming; an object that will double our comforts, and 
quadruple the value of our lands; that will enable us to raise 
four fat oxen, where we now barely sustain one ; and in short will 
raise us to the rank of real farmers, rioting in abundance, instead 
of being mere laborers, struggling for subsistence. This im- 
portant object is meadow. And never, in my humble opinion, 
shall we truly prosper, until we admit hay fields, as a regular 
rotation among our grain crops. Sow clover seed on your wheat 
before the frost is over, strew plaster of Paris on your young 
clover, and the experience of all farming countries will tell you, 
you have the secret of abundance, and improvement with the 
least labor. Give the clover a fair and impartial trial ; and 
should this trial prove that our sun is too hot for its successful 
cultivation, we have native grasses that may supply its place, 
affording a finer, and I believe a better hay, though not so rich 



156 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

a pabulum for our soil. I forbear to trespass on A^our time at 
this moment, to detail all its various advantages, your own 
judgment and your books will convince you, that the introduc- 
tion of clover and plaster, has formed a new era in agricul- 
ture, it has resuscitated whole districts. Would that my pow- 
ers of persuasion were equal to my zeal on this subject, and 
that I had the talents to tempt or persuade you to depart from 
the beaten track, even for one small experiment. I deem this 
object so all important to us, that I will not risk dividing your 
attention by mentioning another subject. I hope and persuade 
myself that the views of the Society, will encourage individual 
attempts to introduce grass fields as a regular rotation, and the 
last vvords of your first President are, "gentlemen make hay." 

Thomas Pinckney, Jr. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 157 



Address of John L. North, 
ok his election to the presidency of the farmers' society, 

JUNE, 1817. 

Gentlemen of the Society— The very flattering mark of 
approbation and confidence that you have been pleased to bestow- 
on me, leaves me no alternative; I have therefore to entreat 
you to exercise towards me, that indulgence which my predeces- 
sor has rendered so necessary, by his very able discharge of the 
duties of the chair ; and to accept my warmest acknowledgments 
for the honor you have conferred. I will endeavor to repay 
the kindness, which, in elevating me to the first office in the 
gift of the Society, has overlooked so many errors and deficien- 
cies, by a faithful performance of the obligation I have come 
under, and an early and zealous regard for the interests of the 
Society. Duly appreciating these promises, I cannot but per- 
suade myself, that the following attempt at calling to your rec- 
ollection, some of the purposes for which our institution was 
formed, and pointing out a few of the advantages of a close and 
constant attention to rural affairs, will not be out of place, at this 
time. It is a lamentable truth, that under th^ present mode of til- 
lage, our lands are ruined in a few years, whilst the crops we draw 
from them, give a very inadequate return for our expenditures 
of labor and money. To cut down and fence in our lands, to 
grow on them, for a few years, annually decreasing crops, then 
to give them up to weeds and briars, and finally to abandon 
them in quest of new settlements, is the only rofation now in 
vogue amongst us. ISTor do the evils of this system, great as 
they are, stop even here ; they are usually only the forerunners 
of the most abject poverty ; for it will easily be seen that it is 
scarcely possible to escape this condition, if to the loss sustained 
from waste and forced sales, we will take the trouble to add the 
expense of frequent removals, and the pernicious habits they 
either introduce or confinn. It was once hoped that this state 
of things would work its own cure, by leading us to enquire into 



158 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

its causes; and eventually to seek relief from such measures as 
promised it, at the least expense, and with the greatest certainty. 
It therefore was eagerly expected that ameliorating crops would 
soon regularly succeed those of an opposite character, recom- 
mended as these so strongly are, by successful experiment, both 
in Europe and this country. The system of manuring, without 
which there can be no profitable farming, and which can be 
obnoxious only to laziness or inveterate prejudice, it was sup- 
posed would immediately become a general favorite. The plan 
of pasturing fields, already injured by a series of exhausting crops, 
it was thought would speedily be abandoned, and the desolating 
course of tobacco, corn, cotton, wheat, rye and oats, shunned 
as the plague. Eeasonable as were these hopes and expectations, 
I am mortified to say they have not been realized; and to add 
that our advancement towards such a change has been but par- 
tial and limited. To place its advantages in the clearest point 
of view, by comparing them with the folly and destructiveness 
of the mode of husbandry now practised by us, and thus to 
recommend this change for general adoption ; to set an example 
in the work of reformation; to stimulate exertion by rewarding 
merit, and by encouraging enquiry, and diffusing information, 
to leave ignorance and idleness and prejudice without excuse, 
are amongst the most prominent objects of our association. But 
it is not to the introduction of a better mode of tillage only, 
that the views of the Society are confined. The improvement of 
stock of every kind, constitutes another object of its anxious 
pursuit ; and without taking into consideration the intimate con- 
nection between attention to stock, and improvement in hus- 
bandry, may I not venture to assert, that there is not a person 
of the least taste or feeling, who has not often regretted the 
mean and degenerating condition, and felt for the sufferings of 
our cattle, exposed as they invariably are, with nothing but 
straw for their -food, to all the severity of the winter. And can 
it be reasonable to expect that with such treatment, in winter, 
without shelter, and with a pittance so tasteless and unsubstan- 
tial, and in summer with no other pasture than what our wood- 
lands afford, that cattle will improve? Do you increase the 
power or usefulness of a mill, by lessening the requisite head of 
water? Are rivers made navigable by having their supplies 
cut off? Be assurer] thnt it is onlv to unremitted attention to 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 159 

their necessities^ and even ease, we are to look with confidence 
for any material alteration in their size, appearance and useful- 
ness. And when we turn our eyes to the state of our sheep, 
do we not see almost as much to censure? From observation 
and experiment, I have reason to think that this state is, in 
many respects, as friendly to the constitution and habits of 
this useful animal, as any of the Northern States; yet their 
sheep surpass ours, as well in size and beauty, as in weight 
and perhaps fineness of fleece. To what then are we to attribute 
this difference? Are our oak ridges so small and barren, that 
sheep cannot thrive on them, or is it because our winters are 
so long and pinching, and our summers are so wet and hot? 
Or perhaps it is for want of water and shade, that they do not 
prosper with us. In many of these particulars we have a 
decided superiority. Our ridges are large, and though unfit 
for the purposes of the plough, yet produce an herbage pecu- 
liarly grateful to sheep. Our summers are dry; I believe less 
sultry and oppressive; and our winters are certainly less humid, 
more moderate, and of shorter duration : never failing springs 
and branches abound, and our country exhibits every variety 
of surface. To speak out then, it can be ascribed to nothing 
but our habitual, I had almost said, proverbial carelessness and 
inactivity, throughout the winter months especially, on the one 
hand; and on the other, to the diligence and care with which 
the farmers of the northward provide during the whole year, 
for the wants, and even comfort of this helpless, but valuable 
animal. I might enlarge on many other particulars to which 
the design of our institution extends; but on this subject I 
have already trespassed too long on your patience; I will there- 
fore but briefly add, that it embraces every thing connected 
with rural affairs; the introduction of live fences; manures of 
animal, mineral, and vegetable origin; their nature and suita- 
bleness to our lands; the nature of our soils; draining and irri- 
gation; the improvement of fruit trees; the dairy, and even the 
stye. 

I com.e now to say something of the benefits of a close and 
continued attention to rural affairs; and these are so numerous 
and important, that I hardly know where to begin, or how to 
particularize. Perhaps I cannot fall on a better method to 
attain my object, and at the same time insure perspicuity, than 



IGO Pendleton Formers' Society. 

that of contrasting the result of our manner of conducting a 
farm, with that of those who have taken the lead of us, in every 
convenient, elegant, and profitable improvement in husbandry. 
That we grow not more than seven or eight bushels of wheat on 
an average, whilst others raise as much again to the acre, I men- 
tion at once, as a reproach and incentive: will it be credited, 
that persons who are well assured that twenty, thirty, forty 
bushels and upwards, of this grain, have been produced on that 
quantity of land, will yet remain satisfied with seven or eight? 
In the Jew's letter's to Voltaire, it is asserted that upwards of one 
hundred bushels of wheat have been obtained from the acre ; and 
that this matter of great novelty, may be inferred from their 
founding, on that very circumstance, the charge of more than 
ignorance or negligence in Voltaire's silence on the subject. 
Nay, when in this district there have not been wanting, some 
two or three instances, where the average to the acre has exceeded 
thirty bushels; and yet unaccountable as it may seem, we still 
persist in farming it according to the old, laborious, pestilential 
and ruinous mode. In other respects the difference against us is 
equally great, whilst we grow but about one hundred or one hun- 
dred and fifty bushels of sweet potatoes to the acre, five times 
that quantity are made in the low country, from the same ground. 
I have heard of a Mr. Ford there, who has even raised one thou- 
sand bushels to the acre, and that with no other manure than 
the otfal of the barnyard; nor do our Irish potatoes generally 
stand better footing. I notice however, with pleasure that in a 
solitary instance,in this neighborhood, in proportion to the land 
plantod, upwards of one thcusand bush el 5 would have been 
taken from the acre-. Is it necessary to inquire if these facts es- 
tablish the advantage of good farming; or if these r.dvantages 
be within our reach? With Indian corn too, the balance is evi- 
dently against us; although our soil and climate are admirably 
adapti'd to its culture, we seldom exceed forty bushels to the 
acre, on our best low grounds, and twenty on our high lands ; 
whilst in New Jersey, an acre has yielded one hundred and eigh- 
teen bushels, two quarts; and the average crop, after ordinary 
manuring, at the northward, I believe to be seldom less than 
fifty or sixty bushels to the acre. In one instance, in this dis- 
trict. I have known good tillage and manure to have occasioned 
in the same field, a difference of nearly three to one, in their 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 161 

favor. But I will detain 3-011 no longer on this pointy than to 
beg of you to use the means within your power, vigorously and 
judiciously, and thus speedily to remove the reproach from us. 
I have already remarked that the cattle of this country are 
poor, ugly and degenerating, and that nothing short of a total 
alteration of our treatment of them, will remedy the evil. To 
prove that it will do so, I beg your serious attention to the fol- 
lowing statements, in which I have been so particular, because 
I hope that some of you may, by that means, be encouraged to 
imitate such worthy examples. "Col. Abel Chapman," says 
a writer in a respectable Boston paper, "has raised some cele- 
brated cattle, which were weighed on foot last Thursday week. 
The weight of the largest ox was 2,716 pounds the smallest 
weighed 2,240 pounds. The former exceeded by 12 pounds the 
weight of the celebrated Durham ox killed in England, in 1807, 
and for which 2,000£, sterling had been refused." "The finest 
breed of bulls and other cattle ever reared in England," says 
Mr. Willich, in his Encyclopedia, "was that of the late Mr. Fow- 
ler, of Eollnight, Oxfordshire,whose stock was sold by auction, 
in 1791." Mr. Willich, "was among those who witnessed this 
enchanting exhibition of animals, and admired their incompar- 
able size, form and vivacity. Fifteen prime heads of cattle, 
namely, five bulls and ten cows, were separately sold for the enor- 
mous sum of 2,464£ or, on an average, 164£ each; the finest 
bull, named Sultan only two years old, was purchased by Messrs. 
Freeman & Eden, of Gloucestershire, at the price of 2201. 10s." 
It is stated in Mr. Niles' Weekly Register, page 136, No. 9, vol. 
xii. that "one hundred and eighty head of cattle, (one third of 
them yearlings and calves) bred by a Mr. Price, near Upton, sold 
for the enormous sum of 7,600£" — ^one yearling bull for 341£ 
5s. — a heiffer for 2521." — and in No. 18, of the same vol. that 
"an ox bred at Springfield, Massachusetts, weighed on the hoof, 
3,100 pounds his length from the top of the nose, to the root of 
the tail, was ten feet seven inches; circumference eight feet nine 
inches." To obviate an objection that may here be made on the 
score of climate, &e I introduce from Judge Johnson's Essay, 
delivered to the Charleston Literary and Philosophical Society, 
a fact that will go very far towards removing it. "Mr. Chris- 
topher Fitzsimons purchased a cow of the common breed that 
range over our pine lands; yet this cow, by being liberally fed. 



162 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

was brought to give as much milk as twelve of those which or- 
dinarily disgrace our cowpens, and her calf when killed for veal, 
weighed as much as an ordinary two year old, and full as much 
as a calf of the large imported breed at the same age." Nor 
ought I to pass over, in silence, the amelioration that has taken 
place in the condition of sheep, principally amongst food far- 
mers at the northward. Mr. Livingston, in his book on sheep, 
gives it as his opinion, that his famous ram Clermont, which 
at two years old weighed 149 pounds would when full mouthed, 
and in good order, go up to 190 pounds. In the essay above 
referred to. Judge Johnson mentions that "Mrs. Melvil, of 
Savannah, raised two pet lambs, which he had it in his power to 
ascertain were of the most common breed of the coimtry ; yet the 
fleece of one of those sheep weighed 14 pounds the other 15 
pounds, the wool was very fine, and the staple was of the average 
length of fifteen inches, some of it went up to eighteen inches." 
And I remember to have seen it incidently mentioned in the ac- 
count of a cattle show, near Philadelphia, in the year 1813, I 
think, that a wether wei-rhing considerably more than 300 
pounds had been killed, in the market in that city, the year be- 
fore. When to these facts we add others which you no doubt 
recollect, and compare them with such information as we pos- 
sess, with regard to our own sheep and cattle, what further 
proofs can we require of the benefits that follow care, persever- 
ance and judgment ; or of the evils that attend negligence and 
sloth. That fruits may be increased to any desirable extent 
there can be no doubt, since it has been ascertained that even the 
fig and black heart cherry, will answer very well here; and that 
they may probably be greatly improved, I again avail myself of 
Judge Johnson's essny : in page 22, he says, "indeed it is scarcely 
credible to what perfection the peach and the grape have been 
brought in this State. One hardly dares assert, that the former 
has attained the size of a foot in circumference, and the bimch 
of the latter 3 pounds in wei<Tbt." In another place he says, "I 
have seen five different kinds of the most luscious grapes of 
Europe, heaped on a table in the month of October; and this 
was in the most obscure parts of the State." One more fact and 
I have done. But a few years ago, the lands of Loudon countv, 
Virginia, exhausted by the desolating rotation of wheat and to- 
bacco, were purchased by a set of industrious and intelligent 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 163 

Pennsylvania farmers, at about five or six dollars per acre. The 
same lands, improved as they are, by manures and judicious 
farming, will now bring from forty to fifty dollars per acre. 

Before I close these few statements and remarks, I feel it my 
duty to beseech you to attend more diligently to such erperi- 
ments as you may undertake, with a view to the advancement of 
the plans of our institution; and to conquer that bashfulness, 
which keeps you from communicating the results, whether pros- 
perous or adverse, with such observations as you may make on 
the causes of failure or success. The zeal of a few individuals 
may remove some of the smaller objections from the stream of 
agricultural knowledge ; but it is only by the united and spirited 
exertions of all, or most of the members of this society, that it 
can be cleared out and deepened, as to be made extensively 
and permanently useful. Books maj^, and will assist us; but 
they will not supersede the necessity of candid personal observa- 
tion and experiment. It is only on these often repeated, care- 
fully noted, and honestl}^ communicated, that we can build our 
improvements. We may learn a great deal of a country from the 
writings of others, 'tis only by travelling over it frequently our- 
selves, that we can become intimately acquainted with it. I 
have now nothing to add, but to express a hope, that we will re- 
main no longer insensible to our favored lot, or regardless of 
our own comfort, or the welfare of those that may come after 
us. 



Eeport of the Committee on Manures. 
. PRESENTED July 9, 1818. 

The committee on manures, in obedience to the direction of 
the Society, at their last meeting, beg leave respectfully to sub- 
mit the following 

REPORT : 

Aware of the great importance of the subject, and of the dif- 
ficulty of arranging a system, at once simple and efficient, your 
committee have felt themselves embarrassed by another consid- 
eration of a painful nature. A conviction that an incompetent 
discharge of their duty may lead their fellow citizens into errors 
and losses, and endanger the reputation of a system on which all 
good farming is founded, and which, when Judiciously prosecu- 
ted, has always been attended with the most beneficial effects. 
Your committee however, have not suffered themselves to be 
deterred, even by this consideration, from uniting their most 
zealous efforts in so good a cause; and trusting to superior wis- 
dom for a happy issue, they will only add, that the subsequent 
recommendations are founded either on their own knowledge 
and experience, or derived from the best and latest authorities, 
to which they have had access. 

Before entering upon the subject of their immediate duty, 
your committee would earnestly recommend to their brother far- 
mers to examine and ascertain precisely, the nature of the soil 
which is to be the subject of improvement. In the vegetable, 
as in the physical world, the nature of the defect should be com- 
pletely understood, in order to adopt the appropriate remedy; and 
as our fields not only differ materially, but are even sometimes of 
an opposite quality, it is evident that a very judicious course of 
management for one field, may be extremely pernicious for 
another. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 1G5 

Believing this point to be of primary importance, your com- 
mittee will endeavor to assist the judgment, by enumerating 
the different soils of this district, as far as they are acquainted 
with them; and for this purpose it will be sufficient at present 
to consider them under three divisions : 

First: Stiff clay soils, generally red, with more or less sandy 
vegetable earth on the surface. 

This soil is mostly sterile, after a few years of cultivation in 
the ordinary way; but as one principal cause of its sterility is its 
adhesion, and as clay is known to contain a great portion of the 
food of plants, it follows that the first step towards improve- 
ment, is to destroy its adhesive quality, in order to enable its 
fertile particles to act. To accomplish this object, clay soils 
should be mixed with such particles as tend to open them and 
break the cohesion of their parts; when this is accomplished, 
this land becomes highly valuable, retaining manures for a 
length of time, and with good management will never return to 
its former state. Among other substances proper to be mixed 
with this soil, may be enumerated sand or gravel, ashes, saw-dust 
from mills, rubbish from old buildings or yards, straw, stubble, 
rotten wood, burnt clay, farm-yard manure, and gypsum, or 
plaster of Paris. Tanner's bank, and substances which promote 
a strong fermentation, are peculiarly excellent, and it is believed 
that a mixture of any or of all of the above mentioned substan- 
ces^ in a composed heap, would triple the product of such land, 
if properly ploughed in and brought into good tilth by the 
plough and harrow. 

The second division may be called a loamy soil. This kind 
of earth is less cohesive and more fertile than the former, and is 
composed of sand,clay, and an oily vegetable substance, with a 
substratum of red clay at some depth, on uplands, and generally 
of bluish clay on river or creek bottoms. These latter are gener- 
all}^ admitted to be so fertile as to require little aid from ma- 
nures ; but the uplands after a few years cultivation will require 
a compost of stable manure, sand and vegetable rubbish, to break 
the tenacity, and recruit the poverty which successive crops will 
produce. Loads of mud and decaying leaves, hauled from creeks 
and stagnant pools, are very highly recommended for this soil, 
and the proportion of sand or gravel should be increased as the 
land becomes more stiff. 



166 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

The third division will comprise light sandy soils, with an ash 
colored mould at top. This soil is more porous and open than 
those which we have considered. It receives moisture with great 
facility, but parts with it as easily. To improve this soil, clayey 
loamy earth must be spread over it, and composts of animal and 
vegetable substances; but all light sandy particles must be care- 
fully avoided. This kind of earth is the only one in this district, 
which will bear what "Arator" calls, "the American custom of 
penning," as the treacling of animals impart a firmness to the 
soils which in a great measure will prevent the continual co- 
operation of moisture, while it receives great benefit from their 
manure. 

Your committee having thus briefly endeavored, (by this 
classification of the great bulk of the farms of this district), to 
erect some standard by which an intelligent farmer may correct- 
ly ascertain the nature of his soil, its defects, and their appro- 
priate remedy, will proceed to the subject immediately commit- 
ted to them; the collection and application of manures. 

All the manures which can be used in this district, may be 
classed under four heads: animal, vegetable, compound, and fos- 
sil. 

Animal manure, by which we at present mean, the dung of 
horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, with the refuse of the poultry 
yard, is one of the most powerful manures that can be applied to 
the soil, and the most approved modern writers strongly recom- 
mend that it be immediately buried beneath the surface, there 
to undergo its putrefactive process, that the earth above may be 
benefited by the ammonical gas which it eA^olves in its decom- 
position. The dung of horses, hogs, and poultry, on account of 
its great tendency to fermentation and putrefaction, is best adap- 
ted to cold, stiff, and clayey soils ; while that of cattle may most 
beneficially be applied to warmer soils. On sandy porous soil, 
cattle may be confined by a temporary fence, on a strip of land, 
which being removed at a given time, (according to the number 
confined thereon), their dung shoidd be immediately ploughed 
under, that it may not be exposed to the action of the sun, or of 
rain. But as nine-tenths of the farms of this country, would be 
materially injured by the poacliing of the soil; and as ver\^ few 
of our farmers keep a sufficient stock to improve any quantity of 
land, in any way, by animal manure alone, your committee will 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 167 

not detain you longer on this head but will proceed to the con- 
sideration of the second class, or vegetable manure. 

In this division, we comprehend either green plants turned 
imder by the plough while growing, or parts of vegetables, after 
they have been decomposed or burnt, with their ashes, roots and 
fibres. 

The only experience your committee themselves have had of 
ploughing under any vegetable substance standing on the soil, is 
the case of ploughing in stubble. This practice has for a number 
of years been performed on cold, stiff, blue clay river bottom 
land, from which a succession of the same crops, for perhaps 
seventy years, had' worn away all the top or vegetable earth. The 
practice has always been attended with beneficial results; for 
though the stubble is a long time in decomposing, and affords 
but little soluble matter for the food of plants, yet the tenacity 
of the soil is always broken and a considerable degree of tilth 
produced, enabling the fibrous roots of the plants to penetrate in 
all directions in search of their food. 

But if dry stubble ploughed under, produces such happy re- 
sults, how much greater would be the benefit if a green crop, in 
full luxuriance, in the season of its blossoms, were treated in a 
similar manner. The interior woody fibre of the vegetable, tak- 
ing a longer time to decompose, would have the same effect as the 
stubble, of opening the soil, while the juicy bark and leaves, 
speedily undergoing the putrefactive process in the earth, would 
impart a richness and fertility to the soil, which would amply re- 
pay the little labor and expense that would be incurred. Lord 
Kaimes objects to ploughing under green vegetable crop, merely 
because the vegetables commonly used for this purpose, are prop- 
er food for animals, and he conceives that the best way of con- 
verting it into manure, is to pass it through the body of an ani- 
mal, which will increase its value, while the dung and urine will 
enrich his soil more than ploughing under the green crop. Your 
committee will indulge themselves in two remarks on this objec- 
tion. The first is, that so little labor and expense is required in 
seeding and the two ploughings required by the vegetable sys- 
tem, that any common industrious farmer may sow one field for 
feeding and others for turning under, and if the green vegeta- 
bles are to be cut, and carried perhaps some distance, to the stalls 
and sheds, to prevent poaching, this continued daily labor, will 



168 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

make it the most expensive mode. The other, and stronger ob- 
jection to Lord Kaimes' plan, is that few, if any of our farmers 
keep a stock sufficiently large to manure any quantity of land, 
by the dung of animals alone, while the vegetable system ma- 
nures the whole field at once, and equally. 

Sir Humphry Davy, in his lectures on agricultural chemistry, 
observes, that "all green succulent plants contain saccharine or 
mucilaginous matter, with woody fibres, and readily ferment. 
When they are to be employed for enriching a soil, they should 
be ploughed in when in blossom, for it is at this period that, they 
contain the largest quantity of easily soluble matter, and that 
their leaves are most active in forming nutritive matter. Green 
crops, pond weeds, or any kind of fresh vegetable matter, require 
no preparation to fit them for manure. The decomposition slow- 
ly proceeds beneath the soil : the soluble matters are gradually 
dissolved, and the slight fermentation that goes on, checked by 
the want of a free communication of air, tends to render the 
woody fibre soluble, without occasioning the rapid dissipation of 
elastic matter." In speaking of dry straw, the same author 
states, that when it is made to ferment it becomes a more man- 
ageable manure, and that it is usual to carry it to the dung hill 
for this purpose ; but he says, " it is luorth experiment , whether 
it may not be more economically applied, when chopped small 
by a proper machine, and kept dry till it is ploughed in for the 
use of a crop. In this case, though it would decompose much 
more slowly, and produce less effect at first, yet its influence 
would be much more lasting." 

On this latter point, of dry straw, it is sufficient to remark, 
that this celebrated chemist does not positively recommend that 
it be ploughed in without undergoing fermentation ; he states 
it as a subject of doubt, and tvortJi experiment, and only believes 
it to be more economical. He has himself given us the result of 
an experiment of his own, which should teach us that the only 
use of applying dry chopped straw, would be the opening a stiff 
soil. In the very same page from which the above recommenda- 
tion is extracted, he says, that "from 400 grs. of dry barley straw, 
I obtained 8 grs. of matter soluble in water, wliich had a brown 
color, and tasted lihe mucilage." From 400 grs. of wheat straw, 
he obtained only 5 o:rs. of a similar substance. This experiment 
sufficiently demonstrates, that there can be no comparison be- 



Pendleton Fanners' Society/. 169 

tween mere woody dry fibre, and the succulent luxuriance of a 
vegetable in full sap; but should an}' further elucidation be want- 
ed, we have in the very next page of the same author, a fact 
which ought to satisfy the most sceptical. It is in these words : 
"Woody fibre will not fennent^ imless some substances are mixed 
with it, which act the same part as the mucilage, sugar, and ex- 
tractive or albuminous matters, with ivhich it is usually associa- 
ted in herds and succulent vegetables." 

For precision and accuracy in chemical experiments, Sir Hum- 
phry Davy may be safely trusted; but your committee can not 
believe he was a good farmer. Indeed most of his experiments, 
instead of being applied to the valuable productions of the field, 
were made on "mint" and "primroses," in his garden. 

Your committee have read with much pleasure, two small 
agricultural tracts, published by Mr. Matthew Peters, and rec- 
ommend them to the attention of the Society, particularly those 
parts which relate to the subject now under consideration. 
These works, "The Eational Farmer," and "Winter Riches," 
contain many valuable hints on all subjects connected with hus- 
bandr}'- ; but he appears to be most intelligent and zealous on the 
subject of the vegetable manures, at equal war with both hot 
and short muck farmers. He goes on so far as to say that all 
animal and compound manures should be excluded from tillage 
land, and should be applied to meadow and pasture alone. Two 
of his reasons are so strong, as to carry conviction of their truth, 
while others are so plausible, as to invite the experiments of all 
farmers. The former may be stated briefly to be, first, the com- 
parative facility with which a whole field may be manured at 
once; and secondly, the exemption from weeds, slugs, trash, and 
vermin, which farm-yard manure never fails to reproduce. 
Your committee," in the absence, of their own personal experience 
on this subject, will briefly state his mode of bringing a field in- 
to good tilth and fertility, and it is worthy of remark, that his 
soil resembles that of far the greater part of our farms. 

About the first of October, he breaks up a stiff field and sows, 
pretty thick, turnips and barley, or rye and oats, (in all cases of 
turnip sowing, he mixes one quart of radish seed with four 
quarts of turnip). This crop is sown on land, ridged for winter 
fallow. In Februarv you may put in ewes and lambs. In April 
or May this vegetable crop is turned completely under, with a 



170 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

proper plough, and on tlie furrow he sows buckwheat, turnips, 
and vetches, any or all (but a mixture seems preferable), and 
harrows them lightly. Thus you have one crop of vegetable ma- 
nure under fallow, while another is growing above it. The end 
of July, or beginning of August, he turns under this second crop 
as before, and the end of September his field is ready for wheat. 

This is perhaps too brief an analysis of his mode, a contin- 
uance of which he strongly recommends, and in conclusion he 
calls on all farmers, with the consciousness of agricultural integ- 
rity, to throw aside the wornout thread-bare gannent of ignor- 
ance and perverseness, and to consider the advantages arising 
from two vegetable manurings, and a sprinkling of sheep ma- 
nure, performing their putrefactive office within the soil, and 
keeping therein all their native salts and fertile oily juice, with 
only three ploughings. 

Your committee though inexperienced on this subject, can not 
avoid recommending to this Society, the adoption of a plan on 
principles similar to those of Mr. Peters. The end of Septem- 
ber, any of the following seeds, or a mixture of them, as judg- 
ment may dictate, should be sown, on one ploughing and harrow- 
ing in : turnips, barley, Egyptian oats, rye, Hanover turnip, or 
any other succulent vegetable, not usually injured by frost. In 
the weaning season your ewes and lambs, and young calves may 
be pastured on it without injury. The end of April or beginining 
of May, this vegetable crop should be neatly turned, three to five 
inches deep, with a good bar share and two horses, having pre- 
viously rolled it. Immmediately on this furrow, any or a mix- 
ture of any of the following seeds should be sown, and harrowed 
in, so as not to bring up the under part of the furrow just 
turned. Buckwheat, vetches, or tares, turnips, cabbage-seed, 
peas, chickory, and in general, all luxuriant, juicy vegetables. 
The first of August this second crop should be rolled, and neatly 
turned under; and if wheat, barley, or Egyptian oats are to be 
the crop for the ensuing year, they may be sown any time in Sep- 
tember, or first half of October, taking great care so to water 
furrow your field, as to cause as little washing as possible. 
Should this field be wanted for corn, the next spring, it is rec- 
ommended to sow it with turnip and radish in September, and 
your cattle, hogs, and sheep may be fed with the turnips in win- 
ter, and the field be broken up for com the end of March. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 171 

All clover and other grass lays have long been used with un- 
varying success, as a vegetable manure. Their direct effect is 
to open and divide the soil by their woody fibre and roots, and 
to enrich it with their mucilaginous substances, which are easily 
soluble in water. Old pasture fields should be suffered to grow 
up for some time previous to being turned in, that a larger 
portion of vegetable matter may be imparted to the soil. It is 
not uncommon to see some worn out fields, thrown out of 
cultivation on account of their sterility, growing up in rag weed ; 
the farmer of good judgment, keeping stock of every kind out, 
would turn under these weeds, before the seed begins to form. 
This process would encourage a more vigorous gro^vth on the 
land, which should be treated in the same manner, and if he 
would but assist the benevolent designs of nature, and sow down 
a winter vegetable crop, the poorest soils would be restored to 
a state of fertility. Let the farmer who is afraid of a little 
trouble, compare the labor and expense of a few plough ings, 
with all the heavy and laborious operations necessary in clear- 
ing new lands, and placing it in good order to receive seed; 
and he will find it less laborious to improve twenty acres of 
his worn out home fields, than to clear two. This calculation 
is within the reach of any one. 

The ashes of all vegetables is an exceedingly useful manure, 
particularly to low wet and stiff soils. The vegetable alkali 
contained in them, gives solubility to all vegetable substances, 
and from its strong attraction for water, may tend to give some 
degree of moisture to the soil, or to other manures; on this 
latter account it is of great service, properly mixed in a com- 
post heap. 

There are many other vegetable substances which may, with 
success, be used in restoring worn out tillage land, but as most, 
if not all of them, may with far greater effects be transferred 
to the compost heap, your committee Avill proceed to the consid- 
eration of the third division, or compound manures. 

Sir Humphry Davy informs us that all vegetable and animal 
substances are consumed in vegetation, but they can only nour- 
ish a plant by affording matter soluble in water, or gaseous 
substances capable of being absorbed by the plants. This great 
principle appears to be confirmed by several of his experiments, 
and is probably as correct an account of the food of plants, as 



172 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

we are likel}'- to obtain. We know that all dead animal or veg- 
etable matter, if sufficiently divided^ spontaneously undergoes 
a process, which brings it at length to be a fat greasy earth, 
which we call rich loam, or garden mould. The woody fibre of 
vegetables is longer in undergoing this process, but its texture 
is at last broken down, and it is resolved into new elements. 
Animals' matters, therefore, and the mucilaginous parts of veg- 
etables being more liable to decompose than dry woody fibre, 
their mixture is evidently required by their nature, and hence 
the origin and necessity of compost heaps. 

With regard to the fermentation of compost heaps, by attend- 
ing to the foregoing principle, we learn that whenever they are 
composed of substances easily soluble in water, or easily disen- 
gaging their gases or vapors, their fermentation or putrefaction 
should be prevented as much as possible; and on the contrary, 
when they consist of woody fibre, and insoluble substances, such 
matters should be added to them as tend to promote fermenta- 
tion. By attending to this simple ' principle, the farmer will 
be at no loss to prepare and manage his manure so as to make 
it most extensively useful. 

Your committee having often had occasion themselves, to com- 
plain of the want of detailed, precise, and specific directions, in 
justly celebrated authors, will endeavor to avoid this reproach 
while they proceed to recommend the best method within their 
knowledge of forming this most essential requisite on every 
farm — a compost heap. The principles have been already stated; 
the practice is founded on them, and a small share of industry 
and judgment is alone requisite to give it the most beneficial 
results. 

A Bountiful Providence has placed everywhere, substances 
which form a manure for the soil ; but man must not expect to 
sit still and that manna will drop into his mouth. His facul- 
ties and reason were given him for exertion, and materials are 
placed within his reach, to enable him by their exercise, to im- 
prove his condition. In the first place then, let every farmer 
mark out a small spot, from twenty to forty feet square, accord- 
ing to the size of his farm ; this spot should be dug down from 
two or four feet deep and the earth should form a bank round 
it; a few stout post oak crotches should be planted in a line 
along the middle of this pit, and shorter ones should be placed 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 173 

at the sides, to receive strong poles, on which to erect a shed of 
common clapboards. Having thus cheaply made a shelter for 
your manure, which at once secures it from the sun, from rain, 
and from water running into it, while by removing a few of the 
boards, you can admit them when necessary; the next step is to 
bring to it a quantity of top earth or sods, and if your soil be 
stiff, a quantity of sand. These substances should be mixed, 
and a layer of one foot in thickness should be spread over the 
bottom of the pit; then cut down and collect all the weeds (be- 
fore they seed) about your fence and farm, and spread another 
layer of them, of the same thickness, over the former one; then 
collect dead leaves, by scraping the surface of the adjacent woods, 
and spread another layer of them; sprinkle this last layer witli 
all the ashes and soot you can collect about the farm; next go 
into your stable and cattle yard; collect all the animal manure 
they contain, and lay on another layer of this dung; over this 
spread a layer of bad fodder, waste straw, sweepings of your 
yard, particularly after rain, and any kind of rubbish about your 
buildings. You will find that 5'-our compost heap will now be 
raised about five feet; but as this will probably settle, as de- 
composition takes place, to about three feet, you must begin 
again with your layers, and proceed till your pit is filled up. 
Should your soil be very stiff, it will be advisable to sprinkle 
two or three inches of sand or gravel between each of the layers, 
as one great recommendation of this plan is, that you may suit 
your manui'e to the nature of your soil. Should it on the con- 
trary be liglit sandy and porous, a layer of loamy clay should 
be occasionally introduced. 

This mode of making compost manure, requires but one part 
out of five of stable manure, to create a fermentation through 
the whole mass. Should it not speedily commence, you have 
only to remove some of the boards during the first rain, and the 
moisture and the heat will soon produce the desired effect. All 
the materials for the compost heap, should be placed ready 
round your pit before you commence, as perhaps it may be ad- 
visable to mix the substances a little together, and not let them 
lay in such detached layers. Should the heap become very hot, 
the quality of your compost will be injured, unless you open the 
mass in dry weather. A very valuable addition to a compost 
heap, is pond or creek mud, where it can be obtained, together 



174 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

with the deposits of leaves and other trash, found in lagoons; 
and your committee will enumerate some of the materials, most 
of which are within the reach of us all, which they recommend 
to be collected and prepared for composts. 

It is presumed as a matter of course, that every one who calls 
himself a farmer, carefully saves all the dung from his stock 
of all kinds; to increase this, your horses' stalls, and the sheds 
or yards of your cattle and sheep, should be kept constantly 
littered with either com stalks, refuse straw or fodder, dried 
leaves or shavings. This will both increase and preserve your 
stable manure. The materials for the compost heap, may be 
sand or gravel ; sods of top earth from lanes and hollows ; green 
weeds of all kinds; (and rag or hog weed is excellent) dried 
weeds and leaves; ashes and soot; sweepings of yards, and all 
kinds of rubbish, saw dust from mills; creek mud and pond 
trash ; rotton wood and bark ; tanner's bark and offal ; house and 
kitchen offal of all kinds. 

Let not the farmer be misled by the opinion that these neces- 
sary operations will consume too much of his time; let him 
seriously set himself to work in hauling materials to his ma- 
nure pit, and he will himself be surprised to find how easily 
and how soon compost is made when he has a little stable ma- 
nure before hand. 

It is believed that one man and one boy with a horse and 
cart will in less than one week create a mass of compost suffi- 
cient for five acres of land, and how many idle weeks do we all 
spend. It will be recollected also, that the greater part of this 
work can be performed at leisure times; the most proper and 
convenient for us, appears to be immediately after laying by 
our drill crops, as the vegetables will then be in full luxuriance, 
and we have some weeks of leisure. In forming your compost, 
the manure from your sheep yard and poultry houses must not 
be forgotten, and as these are of a hot and fermenting nature, 
they should be spread over those layers least likely to decompose 
without their aid. From six to ten or twelve weeks is sufficient 
with proper management to render the compost heap to a con- 
dition fit for application, and on emptying your manure piles, 
care should be taken to turn and mix the heap as much as pos- 
sible. 

Your committee could add many others to these recommenda- 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 175 

tions; but they forbear, relying both on the good sense and 
judgment of the Society to supply their deficiencies; and fear- 
ful of exhausting a patience so largely claimed and so liberally 
bestowed. In conclusion, they will only permit themselves to 
express a fervent hope that their labor may be useful, which 
will be their best reward, and that their brother farmers will 
shew forth their faith by their good works. 

The remaining subject of consideration, that of fossil ma- 
nures, together with the time and mode of application of all 
manures to the soil, must be the subject of a subsequent report, 
which your committee hope to have the honor of presenting. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 

Thomas Pinckney, Jr., 
Chairman of the Committee on Manures. 



On Peas, Pea Vines, and Fattening Hogs, 
by josixvh d. gaillard. 

Pendleton, August 13^, 1817. 

There are perhaps, few parts of the United States, where a 
strict observance of economy in husbandry is more loudly called 
for, than in this district; and I verily l:)elieve we practice as little 
as any civilized people in the world. 

Our range, which some years ago, was as good as could be 
wished for, is now almost completely exhausted. It is at least 
so far spent, that during the spring and summer months, all 
that our cattle can glean from morning to night, is barely suffi- 
eient to make the most thrifty of them tolerable beef by fall; 
and that not without the assistance of bushes and weeds of vari- 
ous kinds ; and the most of the different kinds of oak, which for- 
merly seldom failed to be abundant, is now seldom sufficient for 
the support of our hogs, half of the winter; and although this 
want of range is so sensibly felt, we are (strange to tell) still 
depending altogether on crops of corn and small grain, badly 
managed on exhausted lands, to supply everything about us with 
food. 

It has been recommended in two excellent communications 
read before our Society, (as a cheap and easy mode of obtaining 
winter food for cattle, sheep, and horses) to cultivate the field 
pea, and I did hope that practice would have been generally 
adopted; but it appears that some further inducement is still 
wanting; it is therefore. I am induced to add my experience in 
the use of that valuable article. 

In the fall of 1813, I purchased three acres of peas, as they 
stood in a neighbor's field. After two severe white frosts had 
fallen on them, I picked off all the ripe peas and such green 
ones as were full ; the vines were then pulled up, and after lay- 
ing two days, were caught in a rain, which lasted the whole 
day. As soon as the sun had dried the upper side, they were 
turned, and three days after they were hauled up ; the produce 
was one good wagon load and a half; they fed two cows and 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 177 

calves six weeks, once a day, and were eaten heartily, and much 
preferred to corn hnsks or wheat straw, and while they were 
fed on them their milk was much increased. The peas fed two 
horses, twice a day, for four weeks, during which time they got 
in fine order. These peas had been planted some time in June, 
among corn in the step, and I think ploughed and hoed once. 

On the 6th of June, 1814, I planted peas in an eight acre 
field of corn, immediately after the second ploughing; they were 
put in the step with a hoe, and about twelve grains put in a 
hole; they were worked once with the plough and hoe; about 
the middle of September the vines were pulled up, and after 
laying four days turned; the^seventh day all the dry peas were 
picked off, and on the 8th, the vines were housed. Two horses 
were fed on them twice a day, (and once in the day with sheaf 
oats), for five weeks, in which time they got in excellent order, 
and the balance fed two cows and yearlings, and four sheep, 
for three months. The two cows during this time, furnished 
generally about sixteen quarts of milk per day, and in the spring, 
when they were turned in the woods, one cow and yearling were 
good beef, and the others in good order. The corn among which 
these vines grew, made something short of ten bushels to the acre. 

On the 16th and 17th of the same month, I planted peas 
after the same manner, in seven acres of corn; those were 
ploughed and hoed once, early in November; all the ripe peas 
were picked from six acres of the best, the worst acre and all 
the green ones were left. Thirteen hogs, four head of cattle, 
two Jiorses and four sheep were turned in the field, and they did 
not eat all the peas in seven days. After feeding two horses on the 
peas that were housed from these six acres, for two months, ten 
bushels were threshed out for seed and other use; the whole bulk 
after they were housed, was estimated at thirty bushels. The 
corn among which they grew, was supposed to produce twenty 
bushels per acre. 

On the 2d and 3d of June, 1815, the eight acre field from 
which I cured vines in 1814, and four acres adjoining, of the 
same quality, was planted in peas, after the same manner, and 
got the same attendnnre. Between the 20th and 25th of Sept. the 
dried peas were picked off, and the vines pulled up; on the 
fourth day they were thrown up in heaps about five feet high; 
on the seventh day were opened, and on the 8th hauled in. These 



178 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

vines fed two horses, twice a day, for two months, and the bal- 
ance fed four head of cattle and four of sheep, four months, 
once a day. 

On the 13th, 13th, and 14th of June, 1815, I planted peas 
among eight acres of corn, after the second ploughing, (these 
were planted in double rows, that is, two of peas for one of corn;) 
they were ploughed and hoed once, early in October; they were 
seen by a great pea planter from the low country, and pro- 
nounced to be very fine; early in November, they were picked 
over once, and the bulk judged by the same gentleman to con- 
tain at least forty bushels of shelled peas; twenty bushels were 
threshed out for seed and other use, and the balance fed two 
horses better than two months. The corn among which these 
grew made sixteen bushels to the acre. 

From the 20th to the 23rd of May. l-Slfi, I j^lanted peas in ten 
acres of corn; these were dropt in the furrow next the corn on 
both sides, and covered with the plough ; they received one hoeing 
and ploughing. From being planted so near the corn and in 
such quantity, each injured the other, and the drought in addi- 
tion, rendered the peas on the poorer parts of the field unpromis- 
ing. The vines from these parts were pulled up and fed to my 
horses and cattle in September, for the want of pasture for 
them; the other five acres being stronger land and lying lower, 
were suffered to ripen ; and although they were injured by deer, 
which frequented the field every night, for some weeks, and 
they were not picked until late in October, they produced twen- 
ty-five bushels of shelled peas ; and from two acres of stiff old 
bottom planted on the 19th of Jime, after my old method, and 
ploughed and hoed once, I gathered ten bushels; these thirty- 
five bushels of peas feci two horses, two months, and left thir- 
teen bushels for seed ; the feed given the horses was a bushel 
basket three times a day, between the two. It was generally 
shook down and a little heaped, and upon threshing and meas- 
uring one of those feeds with my own hands, it was found to 
contain three quarts and one handful; with this they had a 
common allowance of fodder. While my horses were so fed, they 
were daily employed in the plough or hauling new rails in the 
wagon, and they were fat. We know that the common feed for 
work horses is at least eight quarts of corn per day; nearly twice 
as much as mine get when fed on peas. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 179 

From the 25th to the 26th of May, inclusive', I planted peas in 
sixteen acres of corn, with the first ploughing, dropping them 
in the furrow next the corn. This corn was never worked 
again until it was tasseling; it was then ploughed and hoed and 
laid by; on one row across the field, there was no peas planted, 
and on the adjoining row, they were planted on both sides; 
when the corn was dry, I took two gentlemen in the field and 
directed their attention to this experiment, they were of the 
opinion that the row which had no peas could scarcely be dis- 
cerned to be any way inferior to those which had them but on 
one side, while that which had them on both sides was much 
inferior to both of the others. 

Between the 20th and 25th of September, these vines Vv'ere pul- 
led up, and, after being three tim-es wet, were at the expiration of 
fourteen days hauled up ; the product was twenty loads of a two- 
horse wagon, as much as two horses could well pull. I fed two 
horses on them four months; and three milch cows and their 
calves, and four sheep, four months, once per day; the horses 
had them three times a day, a bushel basket to each, at each 
feed, vsdth two bundles of fodder; the cows' feed was one basket 
to each ; the calves,' one for the three, and the sheep one. AVhile 
my horses were so fed, they were in almost daily use, a good 
deal of the time hauling wood ; and the stable was a shed entirely 
open on the north and east sides ; notwithstanding this usage and 
exposure they fattened and remained so. 

The three cows while fed on these vines, yielded four gallons 
of milk per day, and from the two which had young calves, 
one half of the milk only was taken; in a word, when my 
cows have been fed on pea vines they have uniformly done 
well, and yielded an abundance of milk ; and I have never had a 
cow stuck in mire; since I have been in this country. A neigh- 
bor of mine, two or three winters ago, fed four cows with young 
calves well, on turnips and short corn, and I fed two with a 
spring and a yearling calf, on pea vines and kitchen slops; and 
I made within one pound as much butter in the week, as he did ; 
but I know we used more milk in our family than was used in 
his ; and while the butter made from turnips has an unpleasant 
flavor, that made from pea vines will vie with any other (how- 
ever made) for fineness, richness of color, and delicacy of flavor. 
And my horses have never been in better order, had a better 
skin, nor been healthier than when fed on peas or pea vines. 



180 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

I have been asked, are they not very harsh food, cured so late? 
If what has been just said does not satisfactorily answer that 
question, I will ask the following in turn: If calves of three 
or four months old will eat them heartily, and fatten on them, 
can they be fairly considered harsh food? I have again been 
asked, are they not difficult to cure, so late in the season? They 
are tedious, but not difficult, because they are not easily spoiled. 
Do they not also lose all their leaves, when cured so late ? They 
do lose nearly all ; but this is made up over and over again, by 
the number of full and half grown peas they will have by remain- 
ing so late. Will not the fall peas in hauling up all shell out? 
They will shell very little if handled with tolerable care. 

It has been alleged by some, as an excuse for not planting 
them, that they are weak handed, and cannot save the vines; 
but this is mere imagination, for it is well known, that a com- 
mon hand will not strip more than one acre of corn blades per 
day; and I have repeatedly had two acres of pea vines pulled 
up by a plough boy, and the vines when cured, will weigh at 
least four times as much as the fodder, and will be as much 
more valuable. 

I do not wish to be understood to recommend my manner of 
planting. It would, I am certain, be far more advantageous to 
plant them as soon as we have got our corn crop in, either in 
drill, on beds three feet apart, or cross the beds with a plough, 
three feet asunder, and drop from twelve to fifteen grains in a 
hill. The latter mode I would prefer on accoimt of ploughing 
them both ways, which would entirely supersede the necessity 
of hoeing, whereby a larger field might be attended. 

The first president of our Society, gives it as his opinion, 
that they would be an excellent preparatory crop for wheat. 
This has long been my opinion, (although I have not been yet 
able to make the experiment), and many years experience es- 
tablishes this opinion with me, more firmly; and to place it 
almost beyond all doubt, it is the opinion of Judge Peters. 
Perhaps when they are intended as a preparatory crop for 
wheat, it would be best to sow them thick, in broadcast. There 
is no doubt of it in my mind, especially if the vines are turned 
in with a two horse plough, and the wheat immediately, or soon 
after, harrowed in and rolled. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 181 

I should not have gone so much in detail upon the culture 
and use of peas^ but I know that the prejudices against them 
are numerous and strong; and although I have already said so 
much, I must add one remark, which is this: while my neigh- 
bors' horses are eating corn, at least eight months in twelve, 
mine have never eaten it more than five ; one year they eat corn 
three months, and this year but two, the balance of the year 
their food is peas, pea vines, and oats. 

Some farmers are in favor of curing the vine in August, and 
contend that they are the more juicy ; but if they do contain less 
juice in September, I think it then becomes more saccharine, is 
therefore thicker, and I should suppose would lose less in curing; 
we know that the juices of a corn stalk are much sweeter in Sep- 
tember than in August. 

As a further improvement in feeding of cattle, I would recom- 
mend that the shucks be well wet with brine, as they are stowed 
away in the fall. This was recommended to me last winter, and 
was done in this way : as many shucks were thrown in the house 
at a time, as would raise it six inches, after being well trod 
down ; and as soon as they were sufficiently trod, the surface was 
well sprinkled with this brine; as many more were then put in, 
and the same process observed, until the whole were put away. 
In this way one bushel and a half of salt was applied to the 
shucks taken from these hundred bushels of corn, and the conse- 
quence was, my shucks were heartily eaten by my cattle, and un- 
til last winter, they never would eat them, as long as they could 
get pea vines. This is not all the advantage resulting from 
salting them ; it was very evident that they were rendered much 
more nourishing, as the dry cattle which were fed on the shucks 
alone, were in nearly as good order as those which were fed on 
the vines. To do this properly, they should be made so wet as 
to heat and mould. The expense need not be counted at all, 
as cattle, while these shucks are given to them, will require no 
other salting. 

As there is so little economy observed in fattening hogs in 
this part of the country, I beg leave to notice that also, and point 
out a better and cheaper mode. The common practice is to put 
them in a large pen and throw the com on the ground ; in a wet 
season, they are soon up to their knees in mire, and not a dry 
spot to lay on. In this situation there must be much corn 



182 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

wasted, and they cannot possibly thrive but very slowly. My 
practice has been to make two square pens adjoining; they are 
both floored with rails, and one of them is so covered as to turn 
the rain, and is well littered with leaves or straw, and fresh lit- 
ter added at least once a week. In the other pen a trough is 
placed in which they are fed from twice to three times a day. 
One me-al they are fed on peas, and the other two on corn; it is 
sometimes boiled and well salted, and at other times raw. This 
has been my practice for three winters; and my hogs have al- 
ways fattened very fast and eat much less than those fed in the 
uncomfortable manner above described. 

Last winter, after killing off half of my fattening hogs, the 
others were fed altogether on fine corn meal, and although the 
weather had got much more severe, they fattened much faster 
than they had done before, and eat still less. 

Last winter, when my fields were eat out, I commenced feed- 
ing my little stock of out hogs on corn; their allowance was 
six quarts; but when the weather became severe, they fell away 
fast on this allowance. I then laid the corn aside, and had four 
quarts of corn meal boiled every day, in ten gallons of water, 
until it boiled down to about eight; in this a half pint of salt 
was occasionally thrown while boiling; when done it was taken 
up in a large tub and given them the next day, and in one week 
from the day this practice was adopted, they looked much bet- 
ter, and from that time increased in flesh. When the spring 
opened, they were fed only three times a week, in the same man- 
ner, and in the month of May, reduced to twice a week, and by 
the middle of June it was discontinued. Had I persisted in 
giving them the six quarts of raw corn, I am satisfied more than 
half would not have' seen the spring. 

I have also adopted tlie practice of grinding all my horse corn 
into fine meal, and find that I save a third after paying the toll. 

I am, dear sir, with much respect. 

Your obedient servant, 

J. D. Gaillard. 
.1. T. Lewis, Esq., Corresponding Secretarij. 



First E.eport of the Committee on Grasses and Grass 

Lands. 
presented august 13, 1818. 

There is, perhaps, no branch of husbandry, of much more 
importance to the farmer, than that on which it has become our 
duty to report, and we believe none is so much neglected in the 
Southern states; and if any require proof of this, we would in- 
vite their attention to our farm stock, and should they demand 
other evidence, we would remind them of the rise which beef 
and pork have taken within a few years. 

Four years back, the highest price that could be obtained for 
pork was five dollars, and the beef that the country afforded 
was readily obtained at three cents, and three and a half per 
pound. From that time these articles have been gradually ris- 
ing, and at this time, you pay six and a half cents for beef, and 
for two winters past the current price of pork has been from 
seven to eight cents. 

This wretched state of things, owes its existence t6 two causes. 
The rapid decline of grasses in the forest, and inadequate crops 
arising from exhausted lands badly cultivated. How to restore 
fertility to our soil, and even to make it richer than ever it 
was by nature, we have been amply instructed by the able re- 
port presented by the committee on manures, at our last meet- 
ing; and it now remains for us to show, (if we can) how the 
want of grasses for our stock may be supplied. In this attempt 
we will simply lay before you such facts as we have been enabled 
to collect on the subject. 

Meadows, we are strongly inclined to think, are well calcu- 
lated to ameliorate our condition; and almost every farmer who 
has a stream three feet wide, running through his farm, is in 
possession of more or less meadow land, which, while suffered 
to remain in a state of nature, answers no other purpose than 
to entrap our poor cattle in the spring of the year. 

Experience has taught all who have tried it, that to have a 
good meadow, it is only necessary to grub out the under growth, 



184 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

and cut down and remove as many of the larger trees as will 
be necessary to admit the action of the sun. In some instances 
it is necessary to cut a small ditch round the edge of the meadow, 
so as to cut off springs; but in most cases, they become suffi- 
ciently dry after a few months exposure to the sun. 

Ten or twelve years ago, a gentleman residing on the waters 
of Twenty-three Mile Creek, cleared a meadow of four acres 
at the head of a small branch, a great part of which v/as so 
high as to produce only what we call the broom or sedge grass; 
and on the low and wet parts, grew a coarse grass, very much 
resembling what we call the fox tail; but after this meadow 
had been mowed two or three years, these grasses became much 
finer, and yielded better and more abundant hay. For two or 
three years, the product of this meadow was not considerable, 
as it had been thickly covered with young maple, the sprouts 
of which were very troublesome for that time; but as soon as 
they were entirely subdued, so as to give the grass full posses- 
sion of the soil, the quantity of hay was so much increased as to 
become an object of great importance, insomuch that the annual 
product for several years past, has been estimated at one hun- 
dred dollars, and the last summer seventeen large wagon loads 
of good hay was taken from it. 

About ten years since, a gentleman residing on the Eighteen 
Mile Creek, cleared about one acre of meadow; which is in 
the winter and spring occasionally overflowed, and six years 
ago he cleared about two acres more, one of wliich he sowed with 
timothy, in October, putting one quart of seed on the acre. This 
meadow has been found to improve annually. The present year 
the acre of timothy produced four large wagon loads of hay, 
which made a stack eighteen feet in diameter at the base, and 
for six feet up tliis size was preserved, from thence it was grad- 
ually drawn in and terminated at a point fifteen feet from the 
ground. From the dimensions and solidity of this stack, we 
might safely estimate the wagon loads to average from eight to 
ten hundred weight. This meadow was viewed by one of the com- 
mittee some days before it was mowed, and it was then so dry, 
that through the greater part of it, the ground was very much 
cracked. Notwithstanding it must, from this appearance, have 
suffered much for the want of moisture, the timothy was gener- 
ally four feet high, and close arounrl the roots of large stand- 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 185 

ing sweet gums which had not been deadened, it was as tall and 
looked as well as in any other part. 

From the two acres of natural meadow, was taken eleven 
wagon loads of hay, which made two stacks, not much smaller 
than the one just described, and eighteen feet high; from the 
state that this meadow was in all the spring and summer, we 
must infer that if it had been properly watered the quantity 
of hay must have been greatly augmented ; and in support of 
this inference, we will copy an article from an English author 
on Agriculture. Speaking of watering meadows, he says : "This 
is a part of husbandry strangely neglected in England, but of 
undoubted importance. I experienced it in my Suffolk farm, 
and yet stronger in my present Hartfordshire, where any person 
that may call on me may see the vast difference between a 
meadow in the parts watered and unwatered. I had this year, 
(1769) as much hay from off one watered acre, as all the other 
four unwatered ones in the same field." 

The meadow on the Eighteen Mile Creek which produced the 
fifteen wagon loads of hay from three acres, is such land as our 
water courses aboimd with ; it is a stiff soil, of very fine texture, 
one degree lighter in its nature than the common pipe clay. 
In summer, when the earth is neither parched with drought nor 
saturated with water, this soil has been profitably cultivated in 
Indian corn and oats ; but in either of those seasons it is very 
difficult to tend, and produces but little. The foundation of 
this soil is a very stiff blue clay. The growth is maple, ash, 
sweet gum, white oak, some poplar and iron wood, and here and 
there on the high parts hickory and dogwood. This land prop- 
erly drained, and thrown up into high ridges in the winter, 
with a two or four-horse plough, and an application of such 
manures as are adapted to cold stiff soils, might no doubt be 
profitably cultivated in corn and other grains: but it appears 
by nature to have been designed for meadows, and should never 
be appropriated to other use but where there is a surplus. 

Among the grasses which grow spontaneously in these mead- 
ows, we notice a large coarse grass, very well known by the name 
of the red grass — this is generally found in smaller quantities 
than the other kinds, which may be owing to the others being 
earlier and thereby getting possession of the soil. This grass 
delights in water; but in very springy situations, that are al- 



186 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

ways cold and soft, it will not grow. Where it can be watered 
at pleasure and kept wet b}^ an}^ other means than the constant 
oozing cold springs, it yields much more abundantly than 
any other grass we are acquainted with; and when it has been 
frequently watered, the growth is so thick and tall as to require 
two acres to cure what grew on one; it makes a coarse but very 
sweet hay, of which, cattle, sheep, and horses are very fond. 
It is the opinion of the most experienced and skilfull farmers 
that this grass is decidedly the most valuable Ave have either for 
mowing or grazing. 

We might have noticed other meadows, as there are several 
others of value in our district, but we are not so well acquainted 
with their character. The two brought to your view afford 
the most abundant and incontestable evidence, that with a little 
labor and pains, we may have excellent meadows, not only of 
natural grasses but of timothy. In short, if these examples are 
not sufficient to excite others to go and do likewise, we despair 
of offering anything that will have that effect. With one more 
remark we will leave this subject. A meadow once established, 
is done for life or perhaps for a century. 

Of exotics we can give but few examples, as but few experi- 
ments have been made with them in our district. 

The grass called dog foot or orchard grass, (dactylis glomer- 
ata) has been found valuable for grazing, which will appear 
by the following experiment. One of your committee some 
years back sowed a small lot with this grass, which came up too 
thin, the seed being bad ; but notwithstanding this, he pastured 
it at all seasons of the year with cattle, horses, and sheep for 
ten or twelve years; he then cultivated the lot in corn, and 
some bunches of this grass was to be seen in it for some years 
after it had been thus cultivated. We may therefore presume 
that this grass, sown a proper thickness, in good strong ground, 
would be very durable and valuable for grazing. 

Lucerne has been found both in Enp-land and this country 
very valuable for soiling. A gentleman of great respectability 
in our state, sowed a quarter of an acre, on a stiff red clay hill, 
with it (this was well manured) and in common years he has 
cut it seven times ; but the last summer being unusually season- 
able, it was cut nine times and kept six horses. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 187 

This is considered in England a valuable grass for soiling, and 
although said to be an expensive one, is highly recommended 
by Mr. Young; by a fair calculation he makes it appear that 
the expense of planting and managing one acre is 4L 9s. 2id; 
in this he includes manuring, ploughing, hoeing, mowing,, and 
hauling home, and in this he has rent, tithes, and rates 11. 
Ws., (which will not be found in the American account). He 
then says, keeping five horses from the beginning of JMay to the 
end of October, at 2s. 6d. per head, per week, is 14:1. 7s. 6d. 
which leaves a clear profit of 91. l-ls. 6d. It thus appears that 
with all the expenses attending its culture, it is found there to 
be a very profitable mode of feeding horses ; but there it appears 
to be far more so, because tliere one acre kept but five horses 
during the season, here one quarter of an acre kept six horses. 

The proper time for sowing is the latter end of March or be- 
ginning of April, because like the turnip it is subject to the 
ravages of the fly, and by early sowing it will attain a sufficient 
size so as not to be affected by the fly; if broadcast, twenty 
pounds of seed to the acre; if drilled in rows two feet apart, 
six pounds will be enough. 

The value of lucerne crops are said to be much increased by 
sowing oats with them, in the proportion of six pecks of oats 
upon very rich land; two bushels on indifferent soils, and three 
for poor soils. iVs soon as the oats are sown and harrowed, 
the lucerne should be sown and a light harrow passed over it 
whether in drill or broadcast. 

The land must be rich and kept clear of weeds to have a 
good crop; it flourishes, by the English account, best on deep 
rich friable loams, though it will thrive in any good dry soil, 
and in the coldest climate. 

Mr. Young says, although this is considered an expensive 
plant to cultivate, if the value of the food be completed accord- 
ing to the maintenance of cattle per week, it will pay nearly 
cent per cent. 

The Featlier-grass, called by some white-top, (and which is 
said to be a Dutch grass known among them by the name of 
Weissen-heffer,) has been tried in some parts of this district 
and in Georgia, and is found to answer well for winter and 
spring pasture for sheep and calves. This grass has been de- 
scribed by Dr. Anderson in his essays on agriculture as the 



188 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

Cock-tail or Featlier-frass. (Stipapennata). On rich loams, 
and in the meadows near the mountains, this grass has pro- 
duced fine crops of hay; but there the red clover and timothy 
being thought superior in similar situations, is taking the place 
of it, though they still think it a valuable grass for their lands 
of a second quality, which are chiefly pastured. With us it has 
been found to succeed best as a winter grass. It preserves its 
verdure in the severest weather, and grows vigorously during 
every relaxation of frost and very early in spring. If suffered 
to seed, it appears to die in June after the seed is perfected, 
but it puts out again in September, affording in its succulent 
juicy leaf, resembling the leaves of barley more than any other, 
a rich repast during the fall, winter, and spring months. As 
we recommend this grass chiefly for pasture, and it grows better 
than any other we know of, except ripple-grass or narrow leaved 
plantain, (plantago tenuifolia,) on poor stiff soils, it may be 
worthy of remark that our common crab-grass begins to grow, 
in our climate, just as the feather-grass declines, and as soon 
as the crab-grass dies, the feather-grass again succeeds it, and 
continues to afford good pasturage till the crab-grass appears 
the next year. Thus these two grasses will afford the desirable 
advantage of good pasturage all the year. 



Eepokt of the Committee on Farm Stock, 
eead november 12, 1818. 

The Committee appointed upon ''Farm Stock," beg leave now 
to report: 

That this subject embraces a very important branch of hus- 
bandry and rural economy, and is very extensive when taken in 
all its relations, must be obvious to all who have paid the smallest 
attention to agricultural pursuits. Your committee, believing 
that it was only intended by the Society that they should lay 
before it such facts and observations as were calculated to shew 
the preference of one species of the same genus of domestic ani- 
mals over another, so far as it respected the operations of 
husbandry, or the comforts and profits of the farmer, will con- 
fine their observations to such as are considered of the first im- 
portance, and endeavor to shew why the farmer should turn his 
attention to the raising and using one kind rather than another. 
The breeds of horses not being so distinct in this country as 
in some others, it is difficult to describe the race most valuable 
to the farmer as best suited to the business of agriculture. In 
some of the middle states, the large dray breed is used as best 
suited to their heavy market wagons ; and in the Eastern and all 
the Southern states, a middle sized horse is preferred, on account 
of his not consuming so much food, his being able to endure much 
more fatigue, and perform more work in the same time. Your 
committee are of opinion, that if horses are thought the most 
proper animal upon a farm, for the wagon, the plough, and the 
cart; those which spring from the common breed, and partaking 
a little of the blood-horse, are the best calculated to perform 
all the services of the farm horse, with the greater ease and ex- 
pedition, and with the least expense to the owner. But 
those which are raised upon the farm, beyond what are necessary 
for its use, should, at any rate, be crossed with the best blood 
of the country, as such will not cost more, in the raising, than 
the coarsest, and will command a much greater price for the 
saddle or pleasure carriage. And if any particular breed of 



190 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

fine horses has shewn its decided superiority, in tlie Southern 
states, for vigor of constitution, activity and strengtli, it is that 
which has descended from the Genius* stock, wliicli lias, from its 
make and qualities, become almost a distinct race. 

It has long been a question, however, whether the horse or 
the ox should be preferred as a beast of the plough. It has been 
urged in favor of the ox, that he was capable of bearing great 
fatigue, was equally docile, lived nearly as long as the horse, 
subsisted upon less expensive food, and almost entirely without 
grain, and in the end was convertible into the most delicious 
food for man, and afforded valuable materials for his comfort 
and convenience. That if by accident he became lame or blind, 
still he would depreciate but little in his value, whereas the 
horse, under the same circumstances, would be worse than use- 
less. To this it is answered, that although the horse is a more 
delicate and exjDensive animal, whose carcase is worth nothing, 
yet that he more than compensates for these qualities, by the 
expedition with which he performs his work, thereby enabling 
the farmer to save much time, by doing so much more in the 
same space, and "time is money." Although the ox does not 
require so much grain as the horse, yet he demands a greater 
quantity of provender or long forage, and as he is certainly less 
capable of bearing heat than the horse; it seems that he is only 
suited to an elevated and cool country, which affords good pas- 
turage and meadows ; and therefore, before the ox can be worked 
to great advantage in any country, grass and hay must be first 
attended to. For these reasons, where the ox was formerly the 
common beast of the plough, the horse is almost universally 
substituted. To find an animal uniting most of the good quali- 
ties of the horse and ox, with but few of the objections applica- 
ble to either, is certainly a great desideratum in agriculture. In 
the opinion of your committee, the mule is better calculated to 
answer the general purposes of the farm, than either the horse 
or the ox, as uniting the good properties of each with but few 
of the bad. Nothing but ignorance and prejudice could have 
kept the value of this useful animal so long from being known 
among us. But of what are ignorance and prejudice not ca- 



*B,v reference to the Stud Book, it viU appear tli.at the imported horse 
which has given a name to this stock of horses, was Cienius, and not Janus, 
a! i^ commonly supposed. 



Pendleton, Farmers' Society. 191 

pable? It is, however, very strange, that the most intelligent 
writers upon farm stock, appear, and acknowledge theiv.- 
selves to be ignorant of them as a beast of the plough, particu- 
larly as their great value has been long known in the south of 
Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. In old Spain, the 
stock, from which they descend, is as much attended to, in point 
of pedigree, as the finest horses in England — ^there a pair of 
good mules will cost twice as much as a pair of good horses, 
and in South America, a mule is considered worth many horses, 
and in some parts of our own state, one good mule is valued 
equal to two plough-horses. These facts are stated, to shew that 
we are not singular in thinking highly of mules, and for this 
preference it is thought there are reasons sufficient to convince 
every calculating mind. The mule is more easily raised than 
the horse, more able to bear heavy burthens, equally strong for 
the draft, more patient, equally docile, will live twice or thrice 
as long, capable of enduring much more labor, will do as much 
work in the same time, and will not be more than one half the 
expense, as they will not eat more than one half the grain, will 
make use of long forage, which the delicacy of the horse will re- 
ject, and will bear the heat full as well, perhaps better. Be- 
sides all this, they are able to work sooner, and are only in 
their prime when the horse has become a useless expense by 
age. From the smallness of their foot, they may not answer 
so well as the horse in deep, miry roads, but from the excellence 
of the hoof, they will never require to be shod, except upon long 
journies over rocky roads. 

That most useful and neglected animal the cow, has engaged 
the attention of your committee, and as this is believed, upon 
the whole, the most important stock for the farmer, much might 
be, said upon this subject, but it is thought unnecessary, upon 
the present occasion, to say more than to express an opinion, 
which kind is the best for the country, and the reasons for that 
opinion. That the stock which is mingled with what is called 
in this country, the English breed, and in England the short 
horned or Dutch breed, is better than the common stock of the 
country, it is believed, no one can doubt, who was present at 
the cattle show in September last, of this Society, or who has, 
at all, attended to the improvement of this animal. There sev- 
eral calves were exhibited, all of which except one, partook in 



192 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

different degrees, of this foreign breed of cattle. The one ex- 
hibited of the common breed, was certainly very large, and did 
great credit to its owner, and at the same time no one present 
could think that it was at all comparable to any one of the 
others. This was conclusive as to appearance, and if they are 
not more tender or difficult to keep than the common breed, they 
must be better. Those of the committee who have had the op- 
portunity of judging from experience, upon this subject, think 
them not more difficult to keep; but on the contrary, think that 
they will look better, grow much larger, and take fat much 
sooner upon the same pasture. This observation relates to en- 
closed pastures, and they would not be understood to say, that 
this breed of cattle requires no more food than the common ; but, 
on the contrary, they believe that cattle of all kinds require the 
quantity of their food to be in proportion to their size. Although 
this breed of cattle is thought more tender than others, in En- 
gland, yet from its superior excellence, it has been increased in 
most parts of that country. Kotwithstanding cows of this race 
give much more milk than those of the common, yet much of 
their excellence does not arise from this circumstance, as they 
can only yield in proportion to the food which they consume. 
Their superiority arises almost entirely from their size, the 
smallness of their bone, in proportion to their flesh, their inclin- 
ation to take fat earlier, and to make fat upon the best parts. 
This inclination to take fat earlier, and to make it upon the 
best parts, is attributed by the most experienced breeders to the 
beauty of their form ; and they are governed in their selection 
of stock, to breed from, not so much by the size as by the small- 
ness of the bone, and the beavity and symmetry of the form. 
It is much to be regretted, that this valuable animal, which con- 
tributes more largely to the comfortable subsistence of man 
than any other, is so much neglected in our country, and left 
to hear every wind and rain which descends from heaven, with- 
out a shelter, and with no better allowance than straw or husks. 
If the farmer, instead of keeping a large stock of impoverished 
cattle which tend to impoverish him, and which can yield noth- 
ing to his comfort or his profit, would keep fewer, which would 
enable him to keep them better, he would, for all his additional 
kindness and attention, receive ample returns, in a rich variety 
of delicious beef, milk, butter and cheese. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 193 

However valuable and important a small stock of sheep must 
be to every farmer, for food and clothing, yet an extensive flock 
is not so valuable as in some other countries, where the carcase 
is in great demand, and the fleece commands a ready sale. But 
it is very desirable that every one who keeps sheep, should have 
the kind most useful for him, and suitable to his local situation. 
Some years ago, it was thought that wool of the finest kind, 
would be an article of the first importance in this country, and 
many men in our country were merino mad. But the bubble 
has bursted, and many have learned, by experience, that this was 
a delusion, and now know, that a flock of sheep larger than 
is necessary for domestic consumption, is a useless expense. But 
this delusion of the day has been of great importance to the 
country, in causing much more attention to be bestowed upon 
this valuable domestic animal. It is believed that a mixture of 
the merino blood improves our native sheep both in the carcase 
and fleece. All crosses of this breed, make the stock retain its 
wool much better. We know but little of other breeds in this 
country; but perhaps if we could get the Bakewell or Dishly 
breed, which is so remarkable for its size and inclination to 
take fat, it would make a valuable acquisition to our farm stock. 

As to hogs, poultry, &c. your committee having but little in- 
formation, and fearing that they have already trespassed too 
long upon your patience, and said nothing which may afford a 
useful hint to any one, beg leave to be silent. 

November 12, 1818. 



Second Eepokt of the Committee on Manures. 

july meeting, 1819. 

The Committee on Manures, in continuation of the report 
submitted to the Society in July last, having therein treated of 
three divisions of their subject, animal, vegetable, and compound 
manures, proceed to the consideration of the fourth division, 
fossil manures ; and will conclude with some observations relative 
to the time and mode of application of manures, to the soil. 

Your committee are not acquainted with any fossils to be 
found in this district, which in their natural state have been 
used as manures, but they are inclined to believe that marl, 
or some earth resembling marl in its effects may be found. It 



194 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

is believed we have neither gypsum or limestone, but at the 
same time proper searches have not been made. It is here recom- 
mended to offer a handsome premium for the discovery of any 
substances, which actual experiment may prove to be beneficial. 
A judicious mixture of soils of different qualities, would doubt- 
less be of great service. A tenacious clay is opened by the 
application of sand and a porous open soil, is improved by 
the addition of clay; but the labor of this admixture would be 
very great, and the fertility communicated to the soil, not equal 
to our ideas of improvement by a system of manures. Gypsum 
may be procured at a high price, and some few experiments have 
been made with it, but they have not succeeded, though it is 
probable the plaster had lost most of its good qualities, from 
having been ground for a long time. But your committee know 
that it has produced no effect, when applied to young corn in 
the hill, or to young clover and grass on very poor stiff soil, 
neither was the soil benefited for a succeeding crop, as some- 
times occurs with this fossil. Notwithstanding these discour- 
aging circumstances, such have been the advantages in other 
places, resulting from the use of gypsum, that your committee 
recommend to every member, to lose no opportunity of pro- 
curing a little of it and apply it to various crops, in various 
ways. A thin layer of it, mixed in turn with a compost heap, 
especially where a great proportion of vegetable matter is used, 
would undoubtedly tend to break down the woody fibre, and re- 
duce the mass more speedily to the state of good manure; and 
in all operations with gypsum it should be recollected, that it 
is now pretty well ascertained, that it is not in any great degree 
a manure of itself, but that the vitriolic acid, converting vege- 
table substances into manure, is the cause of its imparting fer- 
tility to soils; where there is no such vegetable substance, it 
must be useless. Until, however, the wisdom of our Legislature, 
aided by the public spirit of our citizens, shall open our rivers 
or improve our roads, your committee despair of seeing gypsum 
generally used for agricultural purposes, even if its effects were 
as decidedly advantageous here, as they have been found to be in 
our sister States. They therefore proceed to bring to the notice 
of the Society, another substance, which has the all important 
advantage of being in the greatest abundance, and which has 
lately been highly recommended by zealous and intelligent writ- 
ers. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 195 

This substance is burnt clay. Sir John Sinclair, in a late 
work on agriculture, published only last year, informs us that 
he found the first account of clay ashes, in an agricultural work, 
published in the year 1733, so that it is an old practice lately 
revived, and which has been highly recommended by the most 
voluminous writer of the age, Mr. William Cobbett, who, from 
his own experience, recommends it in the strongest manner for 
his Eussian Turnip. The author of the "Complete Grazier" 
also gives an account of clay ashes, and says that poor worn 
soils, which, with manure, would only produce rye, with ten or 
twelve loads of clay ashes, have produced abundant and luxu- 
riant crops. Mr. L'Hommedieu also recommends clay ashes to 
the New York Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, as the 
cheapest manure that can be procured ; and lastly. Dr. Mease, in 
a letter to the Philadelphia Agricultural Society, published last 
year, collects and cites many authorities, tending to prove the 
usefulness and cheapness of clay ashes, as a manure. The weight 
and respectability of these authorities, have decided your com- 
mittee to commence some experiments on this subject, as soon as 
our harvest is secured, and to recommend to their brother far- 
mers to multiply the chances of success, by burning clay into 
ashes themselves. 

Although your committee do not understand the precise mode 
in which burnt clay fertilizes the soil, further than by opening 
and pulverizing it; yet the results of combustion are, in many 
cases, so little known, that they will not suffer their ignorance of 
the modus operandi, to check their endeavors to obtain useful 
and practical knowledge; and they are the more incited to 
spare no exertions on this subject, from the conviction, that if 
the clay ashes do really fertilize a stiff, worn soil, they will fur- 
nish the great desideratum of our farmers, namely, a sufficiency 
of manure. For not only are the materials, clay and wood every 
where at hand, but it is Ijelieved the labor of preparing the ashes 
for the soil is less than in any other mode of procuring manure 
in any quantity. Your committee will now proceed to detail the 
mode they would recommend for obtaining the largest quantity 
of these ashes, with the least labor. 

On some clay ridge most convenient to the field intended to be 
manured, dig a hole one foot deep, and from ten to fifteen feet 
square. Small kilns are recommended to begin with, as exper- 



196 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

ience will suggest remedies for defects. Place the excavated 
clay around the sides of this shallow pit, and in the centre of it 
construct a small square pen, four or five feet high, and nearly 
a foot square, with small kindling wood, similar to the top of a 
common clay chimney; then cut a cord of wood four feet long, 
and lay the sticks crossing each other, over the bottom of the pit ; 
having previously made a channel from the bottom of the small 
square, to the outside, by laying two stout sticks, eight or ten in- 
ches apart, on the ground, and covering them with flat rock 
or turf sods, to communicate a current of air to the centre and 
keep up the fire. This channel will not be needed after the kiln 
is once fairly on fire; then cover over the whole surface of your 
kiln with turf sods from the locks of your fence, and throw on 
the clay you have excavated, and dug from about it, covering 
the sods two or three feet with it ; then set fire to your kiln, and 
cover the top of your small square pen with brush and sods, to 
exclude external air, which should only be admitted from 
the channel outside. It is there to be treated like a coal 
kiln. As the clay burns, more is to be thrown on in the places 
most burnt ; and as the clay will burn of itself, you must supply 
more till you have enough for your purpose. The only precau- 
tion necessary is, not to let the fire break out, till you have 
enough burnt, and this may involve the necessity of watching it 
at night. As soon as the ashes are cool, they are fit for use, and 
should be spread on the land, and lightly ploughed or harrowed 
in, where it is said, they will have an astonishing efl^ect in pro- 
ducing prodigious crops of grass, grain, or any vegetable. 

Your committee will conclude this part of their subject, by 
stating distinctly, that the information here given is derivative, 
and their authorities have been cited. They are sorry that their 
own experience furnishes nothing on the subject; but they will 
add, they are sanguine as to the results, and hope that the mem- 
bers of this Society will zealously unite in the determination 
practically to prove the utility of clay ashes on grain and tur- 
nips. 

The application of manures to the soil, which is the remain- 
ing subject of discussion, should vary according to the nature 
both of the manure, the soil, and the crop which is first to be 
benefited by it. All ameliorating mixtures of soil may be made 
at the most convenient season, but the application of manure 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 197 

must be considered, both as to the state of the manure itself, 
(which involves the controversy between hot and short muck 
farmers), and as to the state or preparation of the land, for a 
crop, or during its growth. With regard to the state of the ma- 
nure at the time of application, Justly celebrated farmers have 
given opinions diametrically opposite; and yet your committee 
are bold enough to disagree with both opinions considered as ex- 
clusive, and to say that both fermented and unfermented ma- 
nures are proper at different times, and for different crops. For 
instance, your committee would not recommend the immediate ap- 
plication of hot stable manure, to a crop of wheat, though they 
would have no objection to a corn or pea crop ; and the reason is 
obvious : Not only might hot stable manure produce diseases in 
a wheat crop, but it would probably introduce the seeds of weeds, 
which would have an opportunity of again seeding themselves 
and polluting your land, before your broadcast crop is off; but 
in a com crop we should not fear these unhappy consequences, 
])ecause our corn is a stout and vigorous plant, requiring strong 
manures ; and as it is always a drill crop, the young weeds which 
might be introduced with the unfermented manure, would be 
destroyed in the necessary culture of the crop. These instances 
will enable the Society to decide for themselves, when fermen- 
ted or unfermented manures should be used. Well fermented 
manures and composts should in general be applied for broad- 
ca,st crops, except perhaps barley; and hot muck may in this 
■country be safely applied to all drill crops. 

Although your committee have stated that short muck or fer- 
mented manures or composts, are a proper dressing for wheat, 
and for the reasons they have given, yet they do not wish to be 
understood as forbidding altogether the application of unfer- 
mented manures to that crop. On the contrary, they would rec- 
ommend experiments, on a small scale, of stable manure, to the 
wheat field, in order to ascertain more precisely its nature and 
effects. To this they are the more induced, from having lately 
seen a successful experiment made with hot muck on wheat, in 
the fourth volume of the mem.oirs of the Philadelphia Agricul- 
tural Society. Comparative experiments are not sufficiently at- 
tended to, and although it is now known that fermented manures 
are proper for the wheat field, yet sufficient trials have not been 
made with hot muck to prove that it may not have advantages. 



198 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

outweighing the disadvantages of introducing weed seeds, and 
perhaps some diseases. For weeds ought not to be dreaded so 
much in this country, as in others, on account of the frequency 
of fallow crops ; and perhaps the disease, introduced by hot muck, 
may be attributed to want of judgment in the farmer, in apply- 
ing it in too great a quantity. If the evil of weed seeds and dis- 
ease can be remedied or even abated, your committee see a great 
advantage in the superior strength and quality of hot muck, as 
they believe that twenty cart loads of it will impart as much 
fertility to an acre of clay land, as forty of well rotted manure; 
because the former would contain nearly as much matter as the 
latter, and of greater strength, and have besides all the grasses 
in them, which rotted manure will have lost in the different 
stages of its decomposition. 

With regard to the time of applying manures to the soil, by at- 
tending to the principles laid down in the first part of this report, 
we shall be enabled to decide that question with greatest proba- 
bility of successful result. As carbonic acid and ammoniacal 
gases are formed during fermentation, and these are powerful 
agents for our purpose, it follows that these gases should be 
formed in the soil, where they would immediately benefit us, and 
not in a manure heap, whence they would escape us, in the sur- 
rounding atmosphere, and be lost. Further, as all manures 
must be in a dry state of solution before they can become the 
food of plants, it follows that manures should be kept dry, till 
applied to the soil, both to check fermentation, and the conse- 
quent escape of gases, and to preserve their soluble parts from 
being dissolved and wasted in the manure heap. From these two 
principles, it results that hot muck should be kept in or under 
your stable as compost and dry as possible, or if in a manure 
heap, it should be well covered with earth, till you are about to 
plant your drill crop ; previously to which, it should be carted on 
the land, spread on the surface evenly, or scattered in drill in 
deep furrows, and covered with the plough without one mom- 
ent's unnecessary delay. The carting and ploughing in, should 
be done at the same time if possible. 

Vegetable composts, having an excess of fibrous and insoluble 
matters, should be treated differently. To break down and dis- 
solve the woody fibre, the vegetable substance composing your 
compost should be laid in layers, intermixed with lime, ashes, 



Pendleton Farmers Society. 199 

gypsum, clay ashes, or animal dung, and water enough to com- 
mence a fermentation should be added, and when the carbonic 
acid gas begins to fly ofE, the heap should be well covered with 
earth, and kept so till wanted for your broadcast crop. The cart- 
ing out, spreading, and ploughing under, should be performed as 
expeditiously as possible, and this operation in both kinds of ma- 
nure should be performed as immediately before the seeding as 
convenient, in order that your young plants should lose none of 
the benefits to be derived from them. 

There are two points which present themselves here, which 
though not strictly belonging to this committee, they will briefly 
examine. One, the most advantageous mode of spreading ma- 
nure, whether all manures had not better be applied to a crop 
preparatory to wheat, rather than to the wheat crop itself. 

When manure is to be applied to a drill crop, which is to be 
succeeded by one or more drill crops, your committee are of opin- 
ion that scattering the manure along the bottom of furrows, four, 
five, or six feet apart, is the best mode, because, one-half of the 
quantity at least, will be sufficient, or saved for other fields. 
Your manure is better beneath the soil, and of course more se- 
cure from evaporation, the operation itself is more easy than 
flush ploughing under, and if three drill crops are taken, by run- 
ning your drill furrows in different places each year, they will 
probably all be good, and your field will at least be all manured 
by one or two cross ploughings. Unquestionably these reasons do 
not apply to a broadcast crop, where the manure should be spread 
as regularly as possible, all over the surface, and as regularly 
ploughed under. 

With respect to the application of my manure, immediately 
to a wheat crop, your committee are of opinion it ought to be 
avoided if possible, at least until further experiment shall test 
the degree of danger to be incurred from disease on weeds. One 
bold farmer, as above mentioned, has been successful in one at- 
tempt at raising a heavy crop of wheat with stable manure, but 
one fact should not be permitted, hastily, to overset the exper- 
ience of years. A reasonable prudence will warn us that the 
greatest care will not secure our young wheat from being over- 
run with weeds in the spring, which will not only injure the 
crop, but the land afterwards, even if the grain escapes the dis- 
eases to which the immediate application of hot stable manure 



200 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

exposes it. In all stiff soils, it is certainly advisable to plant a 
drill crop, as a preparation for wheat, and apply your manure to 
that crop. Weeds will then be destroyed in the cultivation of this 
crop, and your land in the fall will be left clean, pulverized, and 
rich. Potatoes, beans, peas, to be cut for fodder, or any drill 
crop which may be removed by the last of August, would repay 
the farmer for his additional trouble. 

Your committee will conclude at this time, with the following 
general rules with respect to manures, and their application, 
which, though they may be liable to some exceptions, they trust 
will prove useful. 

Farm-yard manures should be kept from fermenting as much 
as possible. This process should take place in the soil. 

In composts, fermentation should be encouraged so far as to 
break down the woody fibre of the vegetable substances of which 
they are composed, so as to render them soluble, and afterwards 
kept dry and cool. 

The time of application to the soil, should be that immediately 
preceding the introduction of the seed. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 

Thomas Pinckney, Jr. 

Chairman. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 201 

On Eipple Grass. 

BY THOMAS PINCKNEY, JR., July 1819. 

Altamont, July 7, 1819. 

Sir — Permit me to recommend to the attention of the Society, 
a small grass growing spontaneously all over our district, and 
which has the important advantages of being a native of oar 
clime and soil, and retaining its verdure and juices throughout 
the winter. I allude to the narrow-leaved plantain, or ripple 
grass, (plantago tennifolia). My sheep have never thriven well 
in winter, notwithstanding they have a dry fold; a good sheltei, 
with racks and troughs, and are tolerably well supplied with dry 
food and pea hay; but last winter they suffered so much from 
the want of pasture, and brought me so few lambs, that my at- 
tention was naturally turned to the best mode of procuring i'lem 
green food, occasionally during the winter, and very early in the 
spring. A visit which I paid to a neighbor, solved my difficully. 
His sheep were in fine order, and he had not lost a lamb. A 
small part of his apple orchard, not half an acre, was tolerably 
well set with ripple grass, and the ewes and young lambs were 
turned on it. As I know that in all other respects, my flock 
are at least as well treated as his, I could impute his success to 
no other cause than his ripple grass ; which was his opinion also. 
Thinking well of this grass, I had collected and sown a few seed 
near my house, mixed with orchard grass and red clover; and I 
think it has always maintained a superiority over them, as a win- 
ter bite for sheep. The soil is exceedingly poor, a stiff, red clay 
and very stony. I find this grass very favorably spoken of in An- 
derson's Essay on Agriculture, who says, that "it deserves the 
attention of the farmer, as a valuable pasture grass. It will 
thrive upon barren soils, where hardly any other plant could live. 
It may most easily be distinguished on poor clays, where it is 
frequently found without the mixture of any other plant ; cattle, 
horses and sheep, eat the leaves greedily, especially sheep, which 
bite it very close to the ground." 

This authority so strongly confirming my own observation, 
has induced me at this time to trouble the Society with these 
remarks, as the seed of this grass is now ripe, and to recommend 
to my brother farmers, to collect it carefully, and to sow it in 
September, on a piece of good land, well ploughed, and the seeds 



203 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

harrowed in. I would not advise the mixture of any other seed 
with it, unless they can procure that of the broad-leaved plan- 
tain, which also grows commonly about our fields; but I would 
recommend them to give it a fair chance of success. Not to rely 
on its growing on poor land ; but to prepare half an acre by deep 
ploughing, and manure, if the piece is not naturally rich, to sow 
his seed thick enough, and harrow it in carefully. This little 
trouble will be nothing in comparison of its value to him next 
winter, and if he but performs his part well, I feel assured he 
will soon extend his half acre to the quantity his flock will re- 
quire. 

I am sir, 

Your obedient humble servant, 

Thomas Pinckney, Jr. 
Joseph V. Shanklin, Esq. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 303 



Address to the Farmers of Pendleton" District. 
September 8, 1819. 

The committee appointed by the Farmers' Society at the Au- 
gust meeting, beg leave to report the following address, to the in- 
habitants of this District, as a preface to the queries, proposed 
to be published; and they recommend that the Committee on 
Publications be directed to cause the Address and Queries to be 
inserted in the Pendleton Messenger. 
To the Farmers of Pendleton District- 

The Pendleton Farmers' Society has been organized since the 
year 1815; and perhaps they have been remiss, in not stating, 
publicly, before this time, the objects of their institution, and 
the means by which they hope for success. 

The great object of this Society is the agricultural improve- 
ment of the district, by directing the attention of their brother 
farmers to the various branches of rural economy, and by the- in- 
troduction of the most modern and approved system of husban- 
dry ; and surely it is obvious to all, that such improvement is nec- 
essary to our welfare and prosperity. We are the largest, and it 
is believed, the most populous district in the State; but our im- 
portance is reduced by a want of information on many essential 
points, and particularly on agricultural subjects. Our fellow 
citizens elsewhere, are making rapid advances in the arts which 
improve and adorn society ; the spirit of internal improvement is 
awake and active; science flourishes, and all classes of our coun- 
trymen are vicing with each other in efforts to raise our national 
character, both at home and abroad. And shall we be backward 
on such an occasion? Shall we be the only idlers in a contest 
for the prosperity of our country? Shall we be the drones to 
devour the labors and the talents of industry and skill? We 
trust you have too much virtue, too much zeal, and too much pa- 
triotism to suffer such an imputation to be cast upon you. 

Although our lot has been cast in a remote comer of the State, 
among rugged mountains, with a vast proportion of our soil unfit 
for cultivation, and what is worse, without a convenient convey- 



204 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

ance to market, yet we have here many advantages and blessings 
to be thankful for. Our district is among the most healthy in 
the Union — our land is cheap ; and a sufficiency of it of tolerable 
quality, is within the reach of every intelligent and industrious 
farmer. If we make less money, we have less need of it here than 
elsewhere — a little judgment and a little industry will procure 
from our fields and our flocks all the requisites for human com- 
fort. Foreign luxuries ought to be abandoned* — There is hardly 
an article among them which had not better be relinquished. 
Let us all unite with zeal and activity to increase the solid com- 
forts of home. 

To promote these praiseworthy objects, to increase the real 
comfort and happiness of every farmer in the district, and to 
make him respectable and independent, the Farmers' Society was 
instituted. The Legislature of the State, perceiving the happy 
consequences likely to result from their exertions, granted them 
an act of incorporation in the year 1817. They have since ac- 
quired a little property, and as it may with truth be said their 
object is to be useful, will not their brother farmers in the dis- 
trict unite with them in promoting such an object. The effect 
of combination is great; a few individuals, however zealous, can 
do nothing ; but a society composed of members from all parts of 
the district, can, and will be useful in the highest degree. Much 
good has already been effected, many instances of which are on 
the records of the Society. The annual contribution of each 
member is a mere trifle, but the aggregate of contributions 
would enable the Society to extend their means of information 
and usefulness. Practical books, good ploughs, harrows, and 
other implements of husbandry, and good seeds of various kinds, 
would be purchased. Larger premiums could be given; and it 
is hoped that the day is not distant, when annual fairs shall 
be established at our anniversary, to which all the farmers of the 
district may resort, for the sale or purchase of fine animals, fine 
samples of grain, or the products of the loom, the workshop, the 
dairy or the orchard. 

The views and objects of the Society having been thus fairly 



*Many good substitutes for Coffee may be found. Rye well cleaned, washed, 
and dried In the sun. then parehed and ground, makes abeverage hardly to he 
distinguished from coffee, and more wholesome. Carrots cut in very small 
squares, dried hard In the sun and then parched and ground, is another good 
und wholesome substitute. 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 205 

and candidly stated, the farmers of the district are invited to 
become members. There is hardly a man who can not give in- 
formation on some point, and if we all contribute what we know, 
we shall obtain a mass of information which must be useful. It 
is not essential that those living at a distance should attend 
every meeting, though as punctual an attendance as circumstan- 
ces will permit is much to be desired. The Society already con- 
sists of eighty members, and new members are admitted at every 
meeting. 

As it may be inconvenient for some farmers to become mem- 
bers of the Society, who are yet desirous of assisting it in so good 
a cause, by all the means in their power, they are respectfully 
requested to communicate any information they possess, addres- 
sed to Joseph V. Shanklin, Esq., our corresponding secretary. 
The Society know that practical farmers are not literary men; 
the style or manner of communication is perfectly immaterial; 
and the Society, as a body of plain farmers themselves, want 
plain facts, in plain language. They therefore hope that prac- 
tical farmers will write to them, and lest any one may suppose 
the information he has to give may not be on a subject of suffi- 
cient consequence, they have directed a list of questions on the 
most important subjects to be added to this address. This mode, 
it is hoped, will encourage farmers to write, as they have nothing 
to do but to answer a plain question; and the example once set 
will be followed by others. 

Queries. 

Manures. — Have you made any experiments with manures? 
Of what nature were they? Have you ever used fresh stable 
manure? What is the difference, in point of strength, between 
it and rotted dung? In what quantity, to what soils, in what 
manner, at what time, and to what crops have you applied it? 
To what crops with the greatest success? Have you ever made 
a compost heap, viz. a heap consisting of dung, earth and vege- 
table matter, such as weeds? In what proportion did you use 
each of these materials ? What is the best method of making and 
collecting the greatest quantity of manure even on a farm ? Have 
you ever hauled any creek mud, or other stuff from ponds or 
branches, on your fields, or to your manure heap ; and with what 
benefit ? What is the nature of the soil to which you applied this 
manure? Have you ever used ashes as a manure? Were they 



306 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

leached or unleaehed? What is the difference in value between 
these as manures ? To what soils were they used, and with what 
effect ? Do you not think unleaehed ashes more beneficial when 
mixed in the compost heap ? Have you ever applied lime to your 
land? Do you know any thing of marl in your neighborhood? 
It is a whitish, clayey earth, and will effervesce when vinegar is 
poured on it. 

Soils. — Of what nature is the soil upon which your experi- 
ments have been made ? Is it sandy or clayey or loamy ? What 
particular grains or grasses have you found best adapted to par- 
ticular soils? Is there any substance in your soil unfriendly to 
any particular vegetable or plant, and how have you or can you 
correct it? 

Tillage. — How deep ought lands to be ploughed ? Should the 
black mould or top earth only be turned up, or ought the yellow 
or red earth underneath to be turned up also ? In what propor- 
tions ought they to be mixed ? What is your method of destroy- 
ing weeds and grass in your fields? Do you fallow your land? 
Do you perform this operation in winter and summer ? Are your 
fallows naked, or otherwise ? Do you lay your fields in ridges or 
lands? How wide are the latter? What is the best method of 
preparing land for the reception of seed, particularly for wheat? 
When do you haul your manure on the land ? Do you spread or 
drill it? ' 

StocJc. — Are not oxen more profitable than horses? What is 
the difference of keep and work between a pair of horses and a 
yoke of oxen ? Do you use mules ? Are they better than horses ? 
In what respects ? Have you ever used large wooden hames for 
horses ? Do you prefer them to collars ? Do oxen draw best with, 
the collar or the yoke? Did you ever yoke them by the horses? 
Was the yoke placed in the front or back of the horns? How 
can you improve the breed of sheep, as respects the quantity and 
quality of wool and mutton ? How, and upon what, do you main- 
tain your ewes and lambs, in the winter and spring? Is it 
profitable to shear lambs the first of the year? Do you shear 
your sheep once or twice a year? What are their disorders, and 
what remedy have you for them? What is the best method of 
raising calves? What is the best method of fattening cattle? 
How best kept for the pail ? What is the best method of making 
cheese and butter? Do vou know the disorder in cattle called 



Pendleton Farmers' Society. 807 

milk sick? Do you know any cure for it? What occasions the 
hollow horn ? How is it most easily and effectually cured ? How 
do you raise hogs? What breeds are the best? Which is the 
cheapest and the best mode of preparing them for the knife ? 

Grain. — Which is the most productive species of wheat; the 
red, white, yellow bearded, or naked ? Is winter better than sum- 
mer wheat? In what proportion? What are the causes of smut, 
blast and mildew? How are these prevented or remedied? 
WTiat is the best method of preserving wheat between harvest 
and threshing time ? And between threshing time and grinding ? 
Is rye a profitable crop with you? How do you cultivate oats? 
Are they worth cultivating? What species have you found most 
productive? Do our soil and climate suit barley? What is the 
greatest quantity of this grain that you know of having been 
made to an acre ? How do you cultivate Indian corn ? In what 
manner is the ground best prepared for it? How should it be 
manured and tended ? In what manner and to what extent can 
beans and peas be cultivated? What is the best time for cutting 
up the vines? How best cured? What is the greatest weight 
of peas and cured pea-vines that you have obtained from an acre ? 

Grasses. — What grasses make the best pasture ? What the best 
hay? What facts have you relative to the culture and value of 
lucerne, St. Foin timothy, and clover, feather grass or white top, 
and orchard-grass? Can not some of our native grasses be 
greatly improved by culture? What sort of pasture agrees best 
with sheep, meat cattle, horses and swine? What particular di- 
rections can you give on the subject of grazing? Are you ac- 
quainted with the narrow-leaf plantain? Do you esteem it as a 
pasture grass? 

Fruit Trees. — ^What kind of apples afford the best cider? 
Which is the best method of grafting, inoculating, and planting 
of orchards ? In what manner do you cultivate peach, plum, nec- 
'tarine, apricot, quince, and cherry trees? Will nectarine trees, 
not grafted, ripen their fruit? May not the fig be successfully 
introduced into the district? 



208 Pendleton Farmers' Society. 

Vermin. — How do you destroy moles? Will palma christi 
drive them away? How are grubs in your com and flax de- 
stroyed? Which is the best method of getting rid of the bugs 
that destroy your melon, cucumber, and pumpkin vines? How 
do you destroy the canker worms and caterpillars that infest or- 
chards? How can you overcome the lice and flies which so 
greatly injure cabbages and turnips ? 

Bees. — Have you any improvement in the management of 
bees? 



